


Choices

by fs_rm



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (I'll probably add more tags later), Adoptive Parents - Freeform, Almost Everyone - Freeform, Enemies to Co-Parents to Lovers, Everyone lives, F/M, Harry gets a happy childhood, Time Travel, i take massive liberties with how the uk works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 09:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 62,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25847662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fs_rm/pseuds/fs_rm
Summary: "The Hewitts had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that someone would discover it."Draco and Ginny didn't expect that, being accidentally transported back in time, they would end up on the night of 31, October 1981.Now, with only each other to rely on, they will have to navigate a new life in the past.And how to raise a child together.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 278
Kudos: 627





	1. 31, October 1981

**Author's Note:**

> Trans people are loved here, jkr is wrong.
> 
> I know this is not how the Fidelious Charm works but in the words of Pitch Meeting: I'm gonna need you to get all the way off my back.

Mr. And Mrs. Hewitt of Little Haven were as normal as one could imagine and any neighbour would tell so, a common family they’d say. They were good friends of old Mrs. Rees from down the road and she would happily talk about them as if they were her own children.

Mr. Hewitt was an accountant, young but very capable with numbers, he was a tall blond man of aristocratic features. Mrs. Hewitt was a preschool teacher, shorter than her husband, she had long red hair and freckles on her face, quick to laugh she often contrasted her husband more reserved personality. The Hewitts had two children, a small daughter and an older son, and on their off days, one would usually see the small family spending time together.

The Hewitts had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that someone would discover it.

But it wasn’t on that day that the story began, it started many years in a different time, on a dark night, when a boy of sixteen ran from a tower.

Spells were flying by but Draco didn’t care anymore, he had failed, he couldn’t kill Dumbledore, would the Dark Lord even care that he brought the Death Eaters into Hogwarts? Or would he kill him for having Snape do the killing and not fulfilling his mission? And if he _didn’t_ kill him, what did he have to live for?

He wanted to lie down, to forget that terrible year, pretend that he wasn’t going home to a wand to his throat and all that he had to worry about was school grades and how to be better than Potter.

Nothing made sense anymore and no one could save him.

Snape was rushing him away but he barely registered it, even less when the man let him go, something behind them that Draco didn’t care about, he continued on the path almost stumbling.

“ _YOU!_ ”

The voice reached him as if it was miles away, _if I could be miles away_ , his mind whispered in pain but he forced himself to pay attention, to come back to where he _actually_ was. In front of him was Weasley, the girl, he remembered she and some others of Potters friends had come and somehow survived the attacks.

She glared at him and he raised his wand at her but his hand still trembled from before, Draco hoped she didn’t notice, being arrested by them, by _her_ , didn’t sound much better than life in the mansion.

“You disgusting, treacherous... _snake_!” she screamed while running, getting closer to him.

“Stay back, I’ll kill you!”

_Big words for the one who couldn’t kill an old man before_ he pushed those thoughts down, together with everything else, Bellatrix made sure he could push everything away, playing with his memories as she went.

“You let them in!” he tried to hex her but couldn’t control his hand and missed “How could you?!”

The Weasley girl didn’t care for his attempts at magic, failing as he was to actually hit her general direction, instead, she grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to look at her, righteous fury shining in her eyes. She hated him, and he remembered the one from her side that he had stumbled upon before.

He didn’t have anything to say, feel sorry for the ones he had spent his lifetime hating? Even if he did, what good would it do now? Draco didn’t have anything that he could offer, money and power had failed him, he was nothing.

_He was alone._

She opened her mouth to speak or to curse him, he had no idea because it was then that a stray spell hit them.

He felt a push, not unlike what he’d expect from a portkey but he was sure that what hit them was a spell, not any object, Weasley couldn’t apparate, and it wouldn’t matter if she could, they were still within the confines of Hogwarts. Did _death_ feel like a portkey?

But when the feeling stopped, they were definitely somewhere _else_ , and it wasn’t the beyond, it was...a road?

It was stupid going after Malfoy as her luck was running out, Ginny thought as she looked around them, stupid gets you alone with the enemy.

The road they were on didn’t have many people in it, or any really, aside from her and Malfoy there was an old couple entering their home and a man but he soon left too, in the distance on other roads she could see some kids, in costumes? She wasn’t sure.

She turned her wand back on Malfoy she asked: “Where are we?!”

“Do you think I know?!” he looked as perplexed as she felt but after the night they had, she wasn’t about to trust he was telling the truth.

“Why did you bring us here?”

She tried again but Malfoy didn’t felt like answering her, choosing instead to walk toward one of the other roads. He didn’t go far however, almost tripping on his own feet he instead decided to sit on the pavement.

“ _Malfoy_!” It made her so mad, after all he had done he just sat on the ground? Nothing to say? Doing nothing?

“Answer ME!”

He finally looked back at her, she hated that defeated look on his face, it wasn’t like the one he would have after Quidditch or when he didn’t get what he wanted, when he would sneer and insult the closest person he could find, he looked... _lost_ , ready to give up, no sneer, not even hatred.

Just blank silver looking back at her.

With a groan of irritation she sat down on the same spot, _not by his side_ , she rationalized as he stared at her actions.

“Well then,” Ginny began “how do we get back?”

He turned away from her, and she thought that this new introspective Malfoy was too strange, someone she didn’t know.

“Is there really anything to go back?”

Her eyes still on him, her voice turned quiet “Hogwarts, family, friends”

He sneered at that and she couldn’t help but smile despite everything, that was the person she knew “Is there anything for _me_ to go back to?”

“Facing the consequences of your actions?”

She didn’t expect him to laugh, but he did, and in that complicated night, she shared his laughter.

Having a quiet conversation with a Weasley and laughing with her, were not things that he expected would ever happen, but at the moment he truly had nothing else anyway. Going back meant either escaping to be killed by The Dark Lord or being arrested and being killed by The Dark Lord _later_. Might as well believe in the impossible.

When a voice came from behind them.

“Are you two lost? Do you need help?”

He turned and found a young woman, dark red hair he wanted to joke about a long lost Weasley but didn’t have much energy for that, her clothes spoke of someone that had expected a peaceful night and he realized he must look terribly dishevelled.

“We-” his companion began, unsure of how to continue and he watched as her face showed every phrase she considered before settling on “We are confused, we weren’t supposed to be here”

The woman smiled at them, deep green eyes softening at the teenagers in front of her “It’s quite late now, I live nearby, you can stay the night and in the morning we can think about it, sound good?”

It sounded _way_ too good for Draco, it was hard to believe that someone would just open their house to strangers, especially in difficult times, what could they want? But even as he thought about it his whole body protested, somewhere warm where he could rest sounded fantastic at the moment, what did he have to lose?

He looked at Ginny questioningly, she answered with a nod before turning to the woman and accepting the hospitality. They followed her to a cottage but he couldn’t make out anything too specific about the place, it was dark and he was just too tired.

They entered the home and followed the woman to the living room, he and Weasley awkwardly sat on the couch when sounds of giggling came from the upstairs, the woman looked up and smiled.

“My husband, he’s taking care of the baby, they will be here soon” she explained gently. “I will get us some tea”

“Uh, Thank you,” Draco said, unsure of what to do, if she asked what they were doing alone out there he didn’t know what to answer.

She smiled at them and moved to the kitchen, probably understanding their defensive behaviour.

He was still looking at the closed door when Weasley turned to him, her expression a determined seriousness.

“Will you come back to Hogwarts with me or will you run away to _them_ ” she didn’t need to specify the them and he felt the dread creep back, told himself to ignore it.

Draco looked at his hands “I don’t know” he said the truth.

“We’ll think about it tomorrow” she conceded, as tired as him.

The door to the kitchen opened again, the woman now holding two teacups walked back to the living room and put the teacups on the coffee table in front of them.

“Thanks,” said Weasley before drinking her tea.

Nothing happened so he felt it was safe to drink, taking in the warmth of the beverage and feeling less tired now.

“Better now?” the woman asked gently and they nodded, “Well then! I’m-”

“Hey, Lils, do you know where is Harry’s toy car?” a man asked going down the stairs, his young son on his hip.

“It should be in the toy box” she replied calmly.

“Already checked, think Harry _moved_ it?”

“It’s possible, want me to look?”

“Nah, we’ll look later, you have guests... something wrong? Do I have something on my face?”

Draco was sure his look of horror was mirrored by Weasley, because standing on the stairs was Harry Potter, only it _couldn’t_ be.

One was the man, he looked almost identical to the boy they knew but the man had brown eyes instead of green, so similar the differences screamed at them, like a puzzle with pieces in the wrong place, it made _no_ sense.

The other was the baby, bright green eyes on an innocent face, no scars to mar the skin, just a smiling baby with his parents, it was _impossible_.

There had to be another explanation because how could they be looking at James Potter and an infant Harry Potter?

“Uh, We need to talk, can we use your kitchen?” without waiting for the answer he dragged a still speechless Weasley to the room he glanced at before.

Draco paced around the room, he stopped to look at Weasley. She was looking at the door aghast, as confused as him. Whatever had happened to them, they couldn’t stay, he turned to speak to her, end the stupor. “We need to run”

“Run? We can help them!”

Of course, leave it to a Weasley to be foolishly righteous at the worst moments.

“Help? It’s already the day!! You saw the people outside!” he tried to make her understand his terror, she _had_ to see the urgency “For all we know he’s already outside and we are targets, no one aside from Scarhead survived!”

“Always _YOU_! They have been betrayed, they need to know!” the weariness from before was gone, she looked as battle-ready as before, _of course_ , Draco thought, _that will only get her killed_.

“ _NEED_? They are already dead, we should not have to follow them!” he felt he had raised his voice too much on that one but nothing seemed different, he could vaguely tell that the family was just enjoying their time, he felt the heaviness of how peaceful they were and what he knew was about to come.

Heaviness was not all he could feel, Weasley was still talking but he ignored it, focusing instead on the other feeling, a _dread_ starting from his left arm and spreading to his whole body.

_He_ was here.

Draco turned to the Weasley girl and pulled her to him, his hand on her mouth and the other to prevent her from moving.

He held on to her even as she kicked and bite him, desperate to free herself and do something impulsive and destructive, even as she cried.

He held on to her even as outside of that room the voices became frantic, a little too loud, probably as a warning to them, and he hoped the Potters were the only ones that knew they were there.

He held on to her even as outside of that room The Dark Lord continued his murderous path.

The spell rebound and the world seemed to come to a stop for a moment.

Malfoy let her go then and she sobbed into his shirt, somehow they had done something no one else had thought possible, gone back to the past without a time-turner, so many opportunities and chances in front of them for better.

And they still couldn’t save a family.

She wanted to scream at him, hex him, _anything_ if she could stop feeling as she did in that moment. What did she expect to achieve? A fifteen-year-old against Voldemort at the height of his power?

Draco moved toward the door, she followed and side by side they exited the kitchen.

The first body they found was James Potter, his eyes still open, glasses lopsided. They continued up the stairs, the spell had blown part of the house and the roof was ready to cave in but they carried on towards the nursery, as they got closer the cries of the baby got louder. The second was Lily Potter, her body still in front of her child, a protector even in death.

And to their horror, a third was Voldemort himself, although that didn’t leave them at peace, they knew that body was just what was left behind when the spell separated him, they knew too well that he was still alive. So instead they turned to the only one alive left.

Harry looked at them, a scar now on his forehead, his eyes still full of tears but he quietened as he looked at them, hoping for care he extended a small hand to them.

“We can’t leave him like this”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello There! Had this idea for a while and when I told my cousin about it her reaction was: What even is this idea?! I want to read it, so I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!  
> P.s: about Voldemort having a corpse in this, I debated with myself about it because they know he disappeared, but don't know he is dead which would imply that there was no body, but the way they talk about Voldy soul being ripped from his body, makes me think that his "body" was left behind (plus how did they know he was gone without a body to prove it) and besides it was creepier this way.


	2. Dawn

_“We can’t leave him like this”_

Draco turned to look at the girl beside him like she was crazy but Ginny didn’t care, she knew what she had to do.

“Why?” he asked, still trying to process the tragedy they were now a part of “You know how it goes, they will just send Potter to his muggle family, we would do better to just get out before they think we have something do with this”

“You have no idea” she responded now looking into his eyes “His aunt and uncle are awful, they can’t be trusted with him, I won’t let them near him”

He tried to argue but she turned to him, fire in her eyes “We couldn’t save his family, we can’t let him go to the Dursleys to be mistreated,” she raised her wand to his face “The question is, what side will you be on, Malfoy? What is your choice?”

Draco groaned, _choices, choices, choices_ , he was sick of them, he was free after a year of hell and with at least thirteen years of freedom in sight, and he was still required to make choices for things he didn’t ask for. Dumbledore had offered him choices and had died by a man he thought he could trust, the Dark Lord had given him none and still promised death if he made the wrong one, and to _him,_ those were all the ones that didn’t benefit _him,_ sonot a lot of margin for error.

Now she asked him to make another choice.

“There is nothing for me out there” he finally said.

“Then _run_ if you think that will keep you safe!” she screamed at him, and yet, she lowered her wand “But if you stay, I _need_ to be able to trust you”

She moved to the crib and picked the baby Harry, soothing him the best that she could.

He had no need to stay and follow her, he could leave, never see her again, never have to be part of the Dark Lord senseless war again, he had no reason to choose her, to choose _them_. All he needed to do was leave.

With Harry in her arms now calm, she turned to Malfoy and saw him taking off his uniform sweater. Her confusion must’ve been apparent cause he answered with a shrug “It’s going to be cold” before using the cloth as a makeshift blanket.

She looked at him surprised, Ginny truly expected to turn around and find herself alone, expected even less to be helped.

Draco rolled his eyes at the way she looked at him “I’m not that cruel that I would just let a child freeze”

Ginny smiled despite all, they could figure themselves out later, now it was about Harry.

“If you truly want to avoid sending Potter to his muggle family, we will need to go now, others will be here soon, and not just your side”

She nodded and they disappeared into the night.

The sun appeared in the sky, marking the dawn with bright yellow and light pink hues, they had been walking for hours, putting as much distance from Godric’s Hollow as they could, glad that Harry had decided to sleep making their journey thankfully silent.

Draco decided to break that silence and ask the girl next to him, “You know the muggles better than I, any idea of what to do next?” all while looking around at the beginning of muggles morning routines. They didn’t really know where to go, but soon the wizarding world would flood the street of even the muggle communities and they couldn’t be found with the boy who lived.

“Hermione once told me that there is, uh, _help_ for families in need but I’m not sure where that would be, she went on a tangent about the muggle government and lost me halfway through” Ginny couldn’t help blushing at that admission, it wasn’t her fault, she couldn’t have known at the time that she would be one day trying to hide in the muggle world with a toddler.

“ _Brilliant_ ” she could hear the sarcasm in his voice and glared at him.

They continued to walk, ignoring their bodies pleas for rest when Draco seemed to spot something in the early morning commuters and decided to push her into the alley, she was about to protest but he quickly pointed to the street, where a group of wizards were celebrating and only when they were out of sight did Draco and Ginny breathe again.

“We need to find some place to stay” Draco stated firmly, hand in his dishevelled hair, so far from the carefully maintained style in Hogwarts Ginny had to hold back a laugh, oh how the mighty had fallen, she was _so_ tempted to tell him so.

“We don’t have money” she decided to tell him instead, their fragile alliance more important.

The blond reached the into his pocket and took out a silver bracelet “My mother gave me this for my sixteenth birthday, silver since I wasn’t of age yet, I’m not sure what it’s worth but it’s pure silver, weighty, I just need to know how muggle money works”

“Oh, that I know,” she said brightening “It’s actually not very difficult once you get the basics”

They smiled at each other, a tired smile, their complicated partnership allowing a moment of levity.

Harry chose that moment to wake up.

Ginny turned to the child in her arms, she had a big family, she _thought_ she’d be able to figure this out, she was supposed to rock him back and forth, maybe, possibly, hopefully. Draco just stared at the two unsure, he was an only child, one of Hagrid monsters seemed preferable to the screaming baby.

And screaming babies gather attention.

“Are you okay?”

The woman that approached them looked quite older, perhaps mid-fifties, dressed in muggle clothing which was a relief to them, her face a mix of curiosity and concern.

“We can handle --” Draco dismissed but Ginny stopped him.

She smiled at the woman and in her fakest pitiful tone asked “Could you help us? We don’t have any money and nowhere to go”

“What are you doing?” he whispered but Ginny only glared at him.

Draco rolled his eyes, they would have to ask _someone_ eventually anyway. Really, it was having to mix with the muggles that he couldn’t handle, but they couldn’t go to the wizarding world, every wizard and witch would be looking for Potter very soon and if they found them, the question of why he and Ginny were at Godric’s Hollow would come up and the mark on his arm made him very much _persona non grata_ , so muggles it was.

He wanted to groan.

The woman meanwhile looked from one to the other, taking in their ragged appearance, the screaming child in a makeshift blanket, to Ginny surprise, she... cried?

“Oh, you poor dears, thrown out of your house?” she asked gently, a hand on Ginny shoulder meant to be comforting “There are terrible parents like this, throwing young couples out just like you”

The woman commiserated the cruelty of those situations while Ginny and Draco looked at her in a mix of hilarity and pure terror. Not sure what was more troubling, the idea of her thinking they had an unplanned pregnancy or that they were in love.

Choosing to focus on the disgust and take the opportunity, Draco then said “Yeah, something like that”

That did the trick, taking the older woman out of her rant she turned to look with commiseration at them “We can go to the nearby grocery for food and then you two can sleep in my hotel room, you don’t seem to have slept in a while”

“We can’t pay you back” he wanted to make sure the woman understood their circumstance, it would do no good to have an angry muggle demanding compensation later.

“No need for that boy, what kind of person would I be if I just left you two alone here” she explained and although Draco continued to eye her with suspicion, that seemed to just make her beam at him “Oh, how adorable, a young man so protective of his family”

Once she turned her back, Ginny and Draco shared a look of exasperation, might as well follow in her delusions.

The grocery was the first time Draco ever saw a muggle store, everything so strange to him, the prices he couldn’t understand, the strange packets the woman put in the metal basket at her side, and what appeared to be disgusting goo, supposedly for children. At least _he_ didn’t have to eat that.

After his first glimpse at paying with muggle money and exiting the store, the woman led them to one of those muggle vehicles, Ginny being far more comfortable than him when they got in. He kept track of where they were going, he had no doubt that they could overpower any muggle but he rather not have to and attract attention to them. The woman however seemed to be every bit the helpful strange she claimed to be and they followed her two stairs up into a small but comfortable room.

The attention reverted to the baby, first it started with a convoluted story about car accidents to explain the scar, the red-head had a way with words and he had to admit it was even amusing, but then Ginny and the woman started talking about changing diapers and he decided to run.

“I will take a shower!”

The woman smiled and gave him one of the packets from before, apparently these had male clothing inside, he thanked her and ignoring Ginny glare, he went to the only other room, finally able to wash away the grime of that terrible day.

The clothes were egregious but they would do for now, he went out and the woman smiled at him, _is she always smiling?_ Draco thought, turning then to Ginny, she first glared at him before faking a saccharine smile that scared him more than the glare.

“Good then, now that you are here, _love_ ,” she said emphasizing the word with distaste“ _I_ can go take a bath”

_Of course, you damn harpy_ , he cursed as she handed him a much calmer, and sporting a new onesie, Potter. They stared at each other, unsure of how to act with the other.

“He has already been changed and fed, thankfully he was hungry and made no fuss, you were there for a while” the woman offered sympathetically.

_Yeah, because I wanted to avoid this,_ but he couldn’t say that, opting to instead observe the baby, not only was he calmer, he looked to be about to fall asleep again.

“You don’t hold him very often, do you?” she asked him, amused with a slight reproach.

“No, usually W-well she is the one to... do this,” he said lamely, having to change the frase mid-sentence. The woman shook her head but didn’t lose her smile, instead she came closer and showed him how to hold the sleepy Potter.

At once, the new comfortable position lulled the child back to sleep, his hand holding on to Draco’s clothing and it hit him then.

They were about to take care of that child, they would have to be the ones responsible for him now, it scared Draco, made him want to run away, but it also held a sense of familiarity, out of that room, away from there was a world he had no part in, one he’d have to face alone, but to stay, that was a mystery he could live with them, with Potter, with Weasley.

He knew then that he’d choose them again.

The older woman, for all her early eccentricity, seemed to pick up his feelings perfectly this time.

“How-” he started but she only shook her head.

“You don’t owe me nothing darling”

It was _different_ , receiving without pressure to pay back, far from what he had learned from his father.

Draco realized then that he didn’t know her name “Thank you, uh, miss...?”

“I sure am many years away from miss, but that was nice to hear,” she laughed “I’m Maeve Rees, darling”

“Thank you, Mrs. Rees” he said truthfully.

“Everything alright?”

The reappearance of Ginny thankfully distracted the woman from asking his name, once they were alone he’d have to talk to Ginny about new names, he would have to give up the name Malfoy, as much as he didn’t want to.

“How little faith” he rolled his eyes, she raised her eyebrow at him, she wasn’t wrong after all but he chose to ignore that detail.

Mrs. Rees let a small laugh and instead of picking a side, chose to direct them to sleep.

Just like Harry had done before, as soon as they were comfortably on the bed they fell asleep. Finally resting in their new world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had the second chapter ready, might as well post it together :)


	3. Maeve Rees

Ginny woke up to the sound of Harry starting to fuss, they had slept for quite some time and it was now mid-afternoon, he was probably hungry. She picked up Harry and considered waking up Draco too but there was little reason to, as she looked down the street there were still plenty of witches and wizards going around so it was better for them if they stayed in the hotel room for the moment and he had no idea what to do.

She, at least, had a vague idea.

“Awake I see!” Mrs. Rees greeted her when she passed the armchair by the telly.

“Yeah, Harry made his wishes very clear” she joked, Ginny liked Mrs. Rees, eccentric as she seemed back in the alley, the older woman had been very helpful and kind to them.

The older woman laughed “Ah! I remember that age, my youngest would let me know he was hungry from the other side of the house” Ginny smiled, leaving the woman to her memories.

“Let’s see where Mrs. Rees put the baby mush” she refused to call that food, but Mrs. Rees looked surprised when she reached for formula, so she imagined that at one year old, babies moved to that mush with the static picture of some way too happy child and had quickly changed course.

She spotted the mush in a small box by the bed, when she opened it was cold like a freezing cabinet back home and remembered Hermione talking to her dad about the muggle fridge, she figured this was it. She took the one with the image of a pear, hoping that fruit would be better than the meat ones.

When Ginny turned the room’s extra bedding had been turned into a semi-circle on the rug and Mrs. Rees looked at her guiltily “I’m sure that if we are careful and put everything back in their place it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Ginny laughed and put Harry down on the rug, he looked happy to see the mush and tried to reach it.

“Oh, what an independent boy,” the older woman cooed at Harry “but not yet, you should let mummy help you for some more time”

While she knew Mrs. Rees had made assumptions about them and that those assumptions benefited them, it still was so strange to hear the woman call her Harry’s mother, like she was stealing someone else’s place.

Ginny forced herself to ignore that feeling for now, uncapping the mush instead, gently bringing the spoonful to Harry that seemed very interested in getting the mush on his hand and then all over his face. She could barely tell how much he was actually eating from the ones she couldn’t prevent him from hijacking.

Mrs. Rees put a hand to her shoulder as she tried to avoid the baby now dirty hands “You don’t need to stress about it, it’s natural at his age to want to play with food, good even”

Ginny turned to her, looking unsure “But what if he isn’t eating enough? It’s more on his hair than in his mouth”

The older woman just smiled “If he is still hungry then he will let you know, just trust his instincts, it is strange with your first child, I know I still worry about mine from time to time, but you’ll see, you just need to work together, all of you” and with a look, indicated the still sleeping Draco.

Ginny felt very unsure about _that_ , the idea of ever fully trusting Draco Malfoy hit an open wound way too soon, he was selfish and intolerant and vain, they didn’t get along, had different views on everything and he had caused so much pain, he was a _Death Eater_ for fuck’s sake. He also prevented her from going against Voldemort to be certainly killed.

Ginny almost hated him for that the most.

The way he looked at her, blank stare on red-rimmed eyes, longing to be far away, it didn’t help that the new clothing highlighted how bad he let his health get throughout that terrible year, even now a pained scowl marred his sleeping face, like someone who hadn’t slept right for weeks and was now hurting because of it.

She had given him a choice and she needed to make her own.

She asked trust, could she give him her trust?

Could she trust him _just enough_ to let him earn it?

Deciding to not think about it for now, she turned back to Harry, dirtier than ever as he had found the mush jar and stuck his whole hand in it, Ginny sighed, that would be so much easier to deal with a _scourgify_ , but they weren’t sure how the trace would work and she didn’t want to risk it. They would have to do things the muggle way at least until Draco turned seventeen.

Now that she thinks about it, when did he turn seventeen?

Not just his birthday, time in general, was October a setback or a jump forward? Did they count as a year older?

“So how old is he?”

“Huh?”

“Harry, how old is he?”

“Oh!” it had scared Ginny for a second “He turned one in July”

Mrs. Rees frowned and Ginny stiffened but when the woman looked at her it was with curiosity and concern rather than accusation “How did you last a year with a child to look after?”

“A family friend helped us” she lied, using her best tone of casualty.

“And this supposed friend just left the two of you alone now?!”

The protectiveness of Mrs. Rees reminded Ginny of her own mother, it warmed her to see that kindness on other people but it also was a painful reminder that she couldn’t see her.

So instead Ginny deflected the question “I’ve been meaning to ask, why are you staying at a hotel? You don’t live nearby?” and the conversation turned to the more casual topic.

“No, I live in Little Haven” the woman explained, regaining her normal smile “My older son is moving to a new neighbourhood and the doctors are confident his little girl will be born in a few days, so I’ve been staying close”

“We won’t impose then” Ginny tried for a reassuring smile “We will leave in the morning, sorry for the nuisance”

“Nothing to be sorry for, darling.” Mrs. Rees laughed and shook her head “Us, the older generation, should take care of you, the new generation, our future”

 _She has no idea of how right she is_ , thought Ginny.

“But this does make me wonder, where do you plan to go next?”

Ginny blushed then, she wished she had paid more attention to Hermione, now she wouldn’t feel like stumbling in the dark “Well, we were talking of asking... government help, I think?”

“Welfare, then?” the older woman seemed to think about it for a moment, Ginny had no idea what to do.

“Is it, a bad thing?” she hesitated.

“Not really, just the prejudice of some people” the woman sighed irritated “Thinking they are so superior but hopefully everything works out for you three”

Ginny held back a smirk, she knew the feeling and couldn’t wait to see Malfoy’s reaction.

“Where, uh, can we search for it?”

“You will have to walk for a bit, follow the main road until the red building then turn right, take the second road and you will have arrived, getting there early should help avoid the queue”

Ginny smiled and hugged the older woman “Thanks!”

From then the conversation turned back to casual with Ginny trying to understand the woman rants about a muggle show on the telly, something about a... PI? She had no idea what a PI was supposed to be but agreed whenever it felt appropriate and shook her head when the tone went in disbelief. Mrs. Rees then helped her to bathe Harry and once the woman decided to go sleep on the couch, despite her offering to take the couch instead, Ginny sat down back on the bed with Harry, telling him the bedtime stories she heard as a child, memories of her life that she didn’t want to leave behind.

She wanted to see her family again, but to them, she was only a baby, and as well-intentioned as her mother was, Molly Weasley would listen to Dumbledore and leave Harry with the Dursleys.

She wouldn’t let anyone do that, she _would_ protect her small new family, even Malfoy if necessary.

Far away from there, in number four Privet Drive, an old wizard named Albus Dumbledore awaited the arrival of the now nicknamed Boy Who Lived, the news of the disappearance of Voldemort, although at the high cost of the lives of Lily and James Potter, had spread far and wide.

Witches and Wizards everywhere were celebrating the end of hold over the magical community, the imperiused returning, victims feeling safe once again, peace seemingly back.

But Dumbledore knew better, and his hopes resided in that boy, in Harry Potter.

He was explaining to Minerva McGonagall his plans of leaving the boy with his aunt and uncle and easing her fears over that choice when the sound of a motorcycle made them turn.

He smiled, prepared for the half-giant to bring the boy to him but it soon became clear something had gone wrong, Hagrid came crying to them, no child in sight. He tried to explain to them but the crying didn’t make it an easy task.

“Calm down, we can’t understand,” reprimanded Minerva but then softened “breathe and it will be better”

Hagrid nodded and began again “Nowhere, searched the whole house but couldn’t find the babe” he broke into tears again “He disappeared before I arrived”

Dumbledore was perplexed, only the Potters were in the cottage in Godric’s Hollow and he had sent Hagrid as soon as he had known about Voldemort killing them, so how come had Harry Potter disappeared? Who could’ve arrived before them?

Minerva gasped “Albus! Is it possible that one of those _Death Eaters_ took him?”

He faked a serene expression, his companions didn’t need any more reason to worry “Unlikely, if any had been close by, Harry Potter would already be dead and they would gladly gloat about such thing, alas, the boy has merely disappeared, more likely a muggle found him when the wards broke”

That seemed to calm the other two for the moment.

“For the time being, we will send people to search for him so that he may be given to his proper family”

Minerva would have liked to disagree on that point but as it was, searching for the boy was most important than her worry over his blood kin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! More of Mrs. Rees! What do you think of her? Personally I love her :')  
> I love writing the parts about the wizarding world because it's all: "How terrible, what terrible things would happen if a Death Eater found Harry Potter!!!" and meanwhile Draco is just: "Weasley!! The Spawn is crying, help!"  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
> 
> p.s: made a drawing of them meeting Mrs. Rees (it's not very good) but dunno where to post it


	4. New Life

Remus Lupin sat in Dumbledore’s office, he was in Hogwarts after so many years but he barely paid attention to the place he had lived in for seven years of his life. If he let himself feel that nostalgia and indulge in the memories he would surely break.

Every place he’d look would bring the ghost laughter of James and Peter, the painful reminder of who Sirius had become, and him, the only one that remained.

He had lost so much, turned into a monster against his will at a young age, alone for most of his life he had finally, _finally_ , found people who cared and loved him, but he hadn’t been allowed a simple life, _You-Know-Who_ was a threat to everyone and he only got stronger as time went on. They had to fight him, give everything they could so a madman wouldn’t be capable of dictating the lives of thousands of innocents, fight for the many that had already been killed and then, the one thing James and Lily couldn’t give up, their son, was threatened and they had to hide away.

Even that had not been enough.

His heart ached for every lost one, alone again, he continued to live, fighting his own shadows, against all odds and to his own surprise, he had one small hope, guiding him on. That hope was why he was at Hogwarts in the first place.

He stood up when he heard Dumbledore entering the office, the headmaster smiled to him and calmly walked toward the desk.

“Remus, I wish it had been a better situation to see you again but I hope you tried some of the candy, we should all be able to find the small happinesses in these new days”

He attempted a smile but managed only a tired grimace, he wasn’t here for that anyway.

“Good to see you too, sir”

Dumbledore, however, shook his head “I don’t suppose casual talk is what you came to talk to me” the older man sat down in his chair and motioned to Remus to do the same.

Remus winced, his voice failing he sat back down and took a deep breath before starting.

“There have been rumours, about Harry, some--” he looked down at his hands “Some even say he died with _You-Know-Who_ ”

“I wish I could tell you those rumours were all lies” his heart skipped a beat and he turned to look at the headmaster, whose furrowed expression made his stomach drop.

“Then Harry is--” it hurt too much to even think about it.

The headmaster then met his eyes, he tried to read what they told but couldn’t find an answer.

“No,” the older man said finally “I don’t think Harry Potter is dead”

Remus was sure that if he tried to stand now he would fall, his hands and legs shook with anxiety, he had so many questions, if he wasn’t dead, then where was he? Why had those rumours spread? What _did_ Dumbledore meant by saying that the rumours were not false?

He settled on asking the latter.

Dumbledore nodded at his choice, taking his time to answer in a satisfactory manner.

“The absolute truth as we know it,” the man started “is that on that night of October, when aurors arrived in Godric’s Hollow, the baby Harry Potter was nowhere to be found”

Remus listened afraid that even breathing would prevent him from knowing.

“Even before that, I had sent Hagrid, I was afraid that with the disappearance of their leader, some of his most fanatical followers might try to hurt the only survivor of that night”

“Then you think one of the Death Eaters have him now?!” he asked rapidly but one look from the headmaster told him to just listen.

“When he arrived, the boy was not there, it worried me more than I wished to admit” Dumbledore said gently “But as the night turned into day I knew that they couldn’t have taken him”

“ _But how are you sure_?!” Remus begged.

Dumbledore smile returned, looked deep into his eyes and he felt eleven again, standing in front of the professor that always seemed to know more than he let on.

“They thrive on the attention, with their master gone they would turn aggressive, I already _knew_ that” Dumbledore tried to make Remus see how important that was “And yet nothing, a day has gone by and they are as lost as we are, if they had taken the boy, we would already have heard from them, instead they scattered, some loyal, some fleeing to avoid imprisonment, but none claiming to hold a green-eyed child”

Remus let that information sink in, they didn’t have him, they didn’t have Harry, he could almost see the relief filling him, but his first question remained and he couldn’t relax just yet “Then, where is Harry?”

“That... is what we _don’t_ know”

“Take the riiight at the red building” Ginny read from the paper where she had written Mrs. Rees information, balancing Harry on her hip.

Draco rolled his eyes but accepted without saying anything, they turned but quickly pretended to be talking, as close as they could, with Harry readjusted to the front, obscured by them.

Before leaving the hotel they had put Harry in his new baby beanie, making sure it would cover his scar but also his hair, just in case, that morning they had noticed that along with some of the still celebrating wizards, in the midst of the muggles, the uniform of the aurors could be seen.

The search for the Boy Who Lived had started.

When he was sure the wizard had left, Draco turned to Ginny and indicated a store on the other side of the road.

“There’s a pawn shop there, we will need the money,” he shrugged and eyed the road again “There might still be some around here, give them time to search elsewhere”

Ginny wanted to avoid the lines but, to her annoyance, had to agree with Malfoy, she begrudgingly nodded and hoped they weren’t held up too long.

They entered the shop uncomfortably close and took the room as a way to get finally some space, Ginny sat on a chair by the window and put Harry down in front of her, it just looked as if she was playing with him and he would be hidden, Draco meanwhile turned to the shop owner.

The burly older man gave one look at him, young with ill-fitting clothing, he could just tell what was going on in his head, because it was exactly what he would assume in his place, Draco was glad Weasley had decided to stay away, the irony was killing him.

Taking a deep breath he ignored that and turned instead to the man, he had had to deal with worse than that, he could do it.

“I’m here to sell this bracelet”

He then put the bracelet in front of himself, ensuring that the owner would have to reach for it, the man sighed, expecting something cheap, ready to laugh at his youngster bravado.

The owner quickly weighed the jewellery in his hand, rolling his eyes, it didn’t felt like much but he nevertheless took his scale and put the bracelet in.

Draco however smiled when the man’s eyes widened, it had felt so light in his hand but on the scale it gave a completely different weight, he tried with his reserve scale to no avail, same result. He eyed Draco with suspicion but decided to analyse the metal instead.

The bracelet was more perfect than any he had seen and nothing like sterling silver, it didn’t make sense, it wasn’t plastic and it wasn’t silver plated, but pure silver was too soft to create jewellery, and yet, the more he searched, the more the answer seemed to be just that. Of course, _Draco_ knew that what made his bracelet was magic, nothing dangerous, just the necessary spells to mould silver but the man would never need to know.

The suspicion grew as he looked the teenager up and down, so the owner asked him accusingly “Did you steal this?!”

Draco rolled his eyes wondering if he would need to invent some sob story “It was my mother’s.”

“Can you prove it?” the man asked.

“This is an unique piece, you won’t see another like this, I can sell it elsewhere”

“I can call the cops”

Driving his feelings deep down, he offered a shrug “They will just agree with me”

The owner looked again at the bracelet, could he risk it? If it had been stolen, he wouldn’t see it again and if the boy was telling the truth then he would turn away a client.

“Do you want to redeem this later?”

Draco bit back a smile and faked a pitiful expression “No, too many memories”

It wasn’t a _complete_ lie, it _was_ a painful remainder of his mother but aside from his wand, he would now have to be a muggle, muggles don’t need magical bracelets.

The man nodded, even more interested.

“I will give you five hundred”

The blond didn’t know how much that was but he was sure he could get more.

“That much? Are we talking about the same thing?”

The owner groaned “A thousand then, it’s double”

Draco debated pushing his luck, if he could pull this off, he would have only one last shot.

He took the bracelet with calculated show, shaking his head “I knew the other shop looked better handled”

“Two thousand!” the man hurried “It’s my last offer”

Draco smiled and handed the bracelet back to the man “It’s a deal then”

When the man went in the back to get the money, Ginny joined him again but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, her eyes and expression unreadable to him at that moment, it was very frustrating considering how easily she let her emotions show, reading her had been the most fun he had in... almost two months if he was honest with himself. She had that brand Weasley personality and could never really hide from him, he hoped she didn’t start now.

But that expression was gone before he could ask her about it and instead she turned a mocking smile to him “So you _can_ use your trickery for good, huh?”

He rolled his eyes but smiled, it was an acknowledgement of sorts, as close to a compliment as he would get from her, he suspected.

“Any more Aurors?”

“None, only muggles”

Grumbling about the youth of today the man returned and handed the money to Draco while focusing solely on the bracelet, they decided to leave well enough alone and just exit the shop.

“Do you think-- second road, here,” they turned “do you think that is enough?” Ginny asked.

Draco eyed the money in his hand suspiciously, sighing he decided to just shove the notes in his pocket “We will find out.”

They assessed the building in front of them.

This was the most important part of their plan, they could escape the wizarding world grasp only if they could pretend to be normal muggles, and this was the beginning of that.

Draco and Ginny shared a look full of uncertainty and together they entered the building.

They looked around the place, it wasn’t packed but there already were plenty of people, the queue would only make them more anxious and that wasn’t a pleasant thought.

A man nearby eyed them up and down and rolled his eyes, he then pointed to a strange device they had never seen before.

“You need a number and when you go in to talk, don’t waste anyone’s time, you hear me?”

“Sure” Ginny offered, as long as they didn’t have to talk more than it was necessary to that man it was perfect.

Draco took one of the papers from the machine and peering over his shoulder Ginny read the number 138.

“I assume they are going to call us” he rationalized “What number do you think it’s at now?”

Ginny shrugged.

The voice from one of the booth reached them then...

“Number 56 to booth 4!”

They shared a groan and sat down on the plastic chairs on the side.

He had finally had a good night of sleep and the wait still made him want to just go back to bed and when it didn’t make him sleepy, it made him restless and he had to pace in front of the two chairs they had claimed. Harry meanwhile had decided Ginny’s hair was the most interesting thing in the room and began to pull on it, she wanted him to stop but the moment she took his hands from her hair he just started screaming, gaining her the disapproving looks of most of the people in the building, so she just resigned herself to the slow scalping of her hair from a toddler.

That hell continued on for two hours.

“Number 138 to booth 2”

To say they run to the booth would be an understatement.

“Good day, what can I help you two?” came the tired voice of the employee on the other side, a brown-haired, bored-looking woman in her mid-thirties.

“Yes, we have become homeless a few days ago” Draco started.

“Car accident, tragic, crocodiles may have been involved” Ginny added to the very unimpressed woman.

“And we don’t have a job and as you can see,” he pointed at Harry and Ginny raised him a little “we have a child”

They shuddered but agreed that it was the best cover.

“So we--”

“You will need to fill these forms and then present them together with your documents to my colleague at booth seven.” She passed them a stack of papers and a pen, absolutely not caring about them.

Draco eyed the pen with suspicion, he only knew what it was due to a time when one of his father employees used one on some documents, his father had complained to him and his mother about the contraption before firing the man the next day. He didn’t trust the thing and missed his quills.

They sat back down and eyed the papers.

Why becoming a muggle was so hard?

Draco filled the lines in mostly silence with Ginny offering her informations while distracting Harry from grabbing the pen.

“Surname?” he asked before the realization hit him “We will need to use the same surname, won’t we?”

Ginny rolled her eyes “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means we will have to pretend we are _married,_ ” he said disgusted.

“Daddy dearest would disown you?” Ginny mocked him.

Their whole situation was in many ways very funny but leave it to Malfoy to take it so seriously. Way too seriously, why hadn’t he insulted her back? It was the one thing she knew she could count on now.

Refusing to look up from the papers he finally answered her “Can’t really disown me from Azkaban, can he?”

Was that... _resentment_? From Draco Malfoy? About his father?

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, noticing her incredulity he shook his head “Of course, everything would have been different if he was there,” he sneered “by now our side would be at the advantage and I would be relaxing in the manor, but since we are here and I’m stuck with you, as you put it, it doesn’t mean anything”

And _there_ it was. It was almost comforting, humanity from Draco Malfoy was a terrible thought.

So terrible it made her laugh and he couldn’t help but join her hysteria, the comedy of their situation finally catching up to him, a few people giving them the side-eye.

“So, back to the important,” Draco said then, more relaxed than before “Who are we?”

Ginny thought about it, she thought about it but nothing. They sat there for a minute but the inspiration refused to come and Harry even started fussing, she sighed and got up “Think about it, I need to go change him”

Draco wouldn’t fight her on it.

Nothing really came up, he couldn’t use a wizard surname as a muggle and he didn’t know any muggle ones, if he ever wanted to be someone else in his life, what would that person be called? That was the problem he supposed, he didn’t want to be someone else, he had grown up with everything he could have ever wished for, raised with the best that money could buy, his life had been what most could only dream of, but _he_ as he was, didn’t exist.

Draco Malfoy was a baby in a manor, still waiting to live that life.

 _He_ was the failure with nowhere to go.

 _Yet_.

Smiling, he could almost feel like he was five again, standing in the garden of the manor he had tried to catch the birds that would land on the fountain and his mother had smiled, told him he would get dirty and called him by her side. He had happily obeyed, enjoying the sun he laid his head on his mother’s lap while she read a book out loud for him. He could no longer remember the story but he could remember being unable to pronounce the protagonist’s name, _I was so angry_ , he laughed and remembered the tantrum he made at that, Narcissa had been more patient than he deserved and told him to just say as much as he could.

 _As much as I can, huh,_ Draco thought _Thank you, Mother_.

“Hewitt?” he had been so distracted by the memory he didn’t even notice Ginny returning.

“Is it a problem?”

“No, it works well”

Ginny shrugged, however, eyeing the next question she had an idea.

She asked for the pen and for Draco to hold the papers so that she could write, grumbling as he did so and she rapidly wrote in it before he could notice her expression of mischief. Her small revenge.

“Finished” she announced, waiting for him to notice.

“You look too happy, Weasley, what did you--” his eyes widened.

“ _DAVID_?!”

She laughed, shifting Harry on her hip so she wouldn’t disturb him, she just _knew_ how much Malfoy would hate such a common name.

“Mr. _David_ Hewitt, perfect!” she mocked him, enjoying his look of horror.

“Well then!” he decided to counter-attack “ _Mrs. Virginia_ Hewitt”

Draco didn’t know if she paled more from the name or from being his (pretend) wife.

Looking daggers at each other they moved towards booth seven, thankfully free.

Holding a coffee the woman at that booth seemed more awake than the one from before and even smiled at them.

“Finished?” she asked livelily.

“Yeah” Draco nodded and passed her the papers.

She glanced between the papers and then turned back to them “Everything seems in order.”

They weren’t sure what that meant but hoped it meant the end of the whole process and possibly a place to stay.

“All we need is some identification.”

Their stomach sank “...What?”

“Your documents” she explained not understanding why they looked so worried.

“And if we didn’t have those?” Ginny asked, trying a casual tone.

“Well, that’s a problem, we can’t help you without documents”

“Even if we _procured_ those later?” Draco asked, leaning over the counter.

“I’m afraid that to receive your needed identification would require time and we wouldn’t be able to do anything until then” the woman explained patiently.

Ginny tried arguing with her but Draco just looked around them, the booth was far enough from the other booths and no one else seemed to need it at the moment, everyone focused on their own situation.

He took out his wand and pointed at the woman, whispering “ _Confundus_ ”

The woman’s eyes glazed and Ginny smacked him on the arm and whispered “We are not supposed to do magic!”

“Do you have a better idea?” he put his wand away again “And besides, it’s been two days from the Dark Lord disappearance, they are still dealing with all of that and celebrating, as long as we don’t use it any more they will only receive a notice that someone they think is only a one-year-old did magic and assume it was a mistake”

She glared at him, hoping vividly that he was right she turned to the woman who smiled at them, completely unaware.

“So,” Draco asked “Can you help us?”

“Of course!” the woman said and then started telling the two teenagers how their situation would be from that moment on.

Their new life began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it too obvious I have no idea how this works? As someone who has been to the UK an exact number of Once, I had to improvise here, hope it's not too terrible, next chapters will be a bit of filler (because filler is the soul of bonding, can't leave it all to the plot) about their new lives as muggles :)


	5. The Flat

“Well,” Draco began and Ginny prepared herself “This is a hovel”

They looked around at their new flat, a small living room with an even smaller kitchen attached, two white doors led one, to the _one_ small bedroom and the other, to a small bathroom.

Everything in there was _small_.

“Feel at home yet, Weasley?” he asked her and received a slap on the arm for it.

“ _Don’t_ ,” she glared at him “test me, Malfoy.”

Draco just shrugged so she walked inside, putting Harry down he decided to crawl around, curious about his new environment.

Draco observed the child for a moment, his slow progress around the room, and how after some time he searched for the tell-tale of red hair, finding her in the kitchen baby Harry continued on, reassured that someone familiar was nearby. He hadn’t held him since that day with Mrs. Rees, the one time he had to, during their journey there, Harry had cried until Ginny showed up to hold him.

The toddler, if nothing else, tended to avoid him.

“Hey, Weasley,” he called out as she finished putting away the food they bought earlier “do you think Potter can see?”

Ginny turned to look at him, deadpan to his smirk “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, Potter wears glasses,” he continued, impervious to her annoyance, “think it developed later, or does he just assume any ginger is family?”

Ginny gritted her teeth and answered “I don’t know, why don’t you go... do whatever it is that you do”

“Oh, but this is better!”

She was going to strangle him. Sooner or later.

“And on that note, isn’t this weird for you?” he asked, hoping for more to tease her with.

“What do you mean?”

“Only,” he leaned on the kitchen counter “last I heard, weren’t you dating Potter?”

_Probably sooner._

Ginny rolled her eyes “That? It was a stupid rumour from Romilda Vane, she was pissed that Harry didn’t want to date her and figured I would be a good scapegoat”

Of course he would find that hilarious. She shook her head and opened the door to the bedroom, his laughter having no choice but to follow her in the tiny flat, and Ginny sighed at the only bed in the room, at least she didn’t have to sleep with Draco alone.

Deciding to ignore it, she opened the little closet and put their new muggle clothing inside while keeping an eye on Harry, her wand always with her. Draco, instead, decided to sit on the couch, still smiling he figured that this new life wouldn’t be so miserable after all.

At least, not as long as he could drive Weasley mad.

Ginny put down the finally sleeping Harry, while he old enough to sleep the whole night, he would often refuse to go to bed and they’d have a battle of wills. It had been almost two weeks and she quickly discovered that letting him win led to crankiness and a lot of crying, so she tried her best on those uncooperative days.

She gently caressed his little head and made sure he wouldn’t fall from the bed before leaving him to sleep.

Closing the door quietly she finally let herself fall on the couch.

She was ready to relax when she heard the door of the bathroom opening and closing, Malfoy had finished his bath, shirt untucked as he finished to button it up, _of course it would be a button-up shirt_ , she thought shaking her head. Ginny stared at him, in the few days since arriving in the past he had managed to regain some of his previous snobbish looks, and while he still pale, it was no longer sickly looking.

A return to normality in a way, as normal as two teenagers out of time would ever be at least.

She smirked, if there was something she’d agree with Malfoy it would be that driving each other mad was simply... _fun_. Ginny sneaked behind him as he hadn’t noticed her yet.

Because alongside the rest, the meticulous hairstyle had returned and Ginny enjoyed messing it up.

“Weasley!” he exclaimed.

“It looks better now!” she retorted in between laughter “Less plastic!”

“That’s because you are an uncivilized weasel” Draco glared but she didn’t lose her smile.

She got slightly closer and when she got his attention “Said the great bouncing ferret!” she ran away laughing when Malfoy pursued her around the flat.

Even if it had woken Harry up, she had to admit her new life wasn’t so miserable after all.

At least, not as long as Malfoy was so easy to annoy.

He regretted making Weasley mad.

As long as she was the only one in the flat to know how muggle money works, upsetting her led to terrible consequences, he’d take duelling over it any day over the alternative.

Namely, a crying child.

“Look, Potter, it’s a star and it talks” he squeezed the singing toy in front of the baby to no avail, bouncing him up and down wasn’t helping either, the moment the child had realized Ginny wasn’t there anymore he started screaming and hadn’t stopped since.

Talk about cosmic punishments.

He put him down, hoping that perhaps the child would calm down if away from him but instead Harry just looked at him with his blotchy face and tear-filled eyes before raising his little arms to him, Draco sighed and picked him up again, little hands holding his shirt tight now.

“If you want to be held,” he asked the baby, pacing the living room “wouldn’t it be better if you stopped crying?”

It had been a month now, they had been in the past for a month and it still felt strange living in a muggle flat with a Weasley and taking care of a child with her, a child that just so happened to be Harry Potter.

“You know, if you continue crying,” Draco tried his best at a soothing voice “I will have to do something I really don’t want to do”

He continued to shift from one foot to another, imitating what he’d seen Ginny do when putting Harry to sleep.

“Oh, it’s something absolutely terrible,” he said gravely “and yet you ask that of me!”

Was he so desperate for calm that he was deluding himself that Harry screams seemed to lessen?

“Well, since you insist,” he continued in a resigned voice “I now have to wish Weasley to return soon”

He wasn’t crazy yet, the cries were lessening!

“It will be very humiliating you see.” He explained, “How can I maintain my status if I need help any time you cry!”

Harry was now sobbing onto his shirt.

“Exactly! She would love it, too, hold it above me that I wanted for her to be here” he was whispering now “But you need to keep it secret, can you keep a secret Harry?”

Harry only looked at him.

“Good, our secret then.”

Ginny opened the door, back from getting groceries she found Malfoy trying to keep a sobbing Harry entertained, the boy ignoring completely the stuffed star. She smiled.

“I’m back!”

The duo turned to her and Harry smiled, hands reaching out to her and she took him from Malfoy.

“As usual, wanted nothing to do with me” Draco explained rolling his eyes before picking the groceries and going to the kitchen to put them away.

“It was better than the other times.” She laughed at him “Last time he was screaming, how did you calm him this time?”

Draco leaned on the counter and smiled at her “I told him a secret”

“Really?” Ginny asked amused “What?”

“It’s a secret, you are not supposed to tell a secret,” at that Harry laughed, it didn’t matter why he did, but Draco smirked and Ginny shook her head.

“Traitor,” she told Harry.

It had been a month and it seemed as if their new life wouldn’t be miserable after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of filler about their new beginnings, after all, there is still a long way for both of them! Hope it's not too bad :)  
> Also, I meant to explain the joke in the past chapter but completely forgot, about Ginny's "new" name: I was born in 1999 (yes, this is relevant and not just me oversharing...), and some time ago I was reading some older fanfics (I think it was from 2004?) and was incredibly confused because at one point people thought "Ginny" meant "Virginia" whereas to me (who grew up hearing "Re Artu e la Regina Ginevra" and even went to school with a Ginevra) the fact that her name was Ginevra seemed fairly obvious, so the joke was "Draco chose the name people think are her name".


	6. Chapter 6

Draco picked one of the items on the shelf, sneered, and put it back. He hated being a muggle, their cheap packages, and obnoxious stores, he’d bumped at least three people since entering and that seemed the least annoying thing that morning.

Just because he’d acclimated didn’t mean he particularly enjoyed spending time near them.

Harry reached out to a bright coloured toy but he just continued past it, ignoring the toddler.

The cart was another annoyance, the screeching was terribly grating on the ears.

Harry made his displeasure known but not quite crying yet, he wanted his toy but Draco wasn’t listening.

The music would be the third, clearly, the generic tune in the background was just irritating, he supposed his tastes were some ten years too early but still, they couldn’t find something better?

Harry was about to scream.

“We are not buying you toys.” He sighed and told the baby “And no, pouting and screaming won’t change the fact that we don’t have money”

Slightly pacified at being acknowledged, Harry frowned but continued to play with his toy star. Draco looked at the child sitting in the cart he was pushing, Harry was babbling incoherently and laughing whenever he squashed the star and it sang.

“Shouldn’t you be talking already?” he asked the toddler, taking some more of the baby mush and putting on the cart, “When do babies talk anyway?”

A girl, he wasn’t sure what age, stopped him as he was about to turn to the next lane, she smiled graciously at him, “Uhm, Hi, couldn’t help but hear you... So, are you his father?”

She was a blonde with brown doe eyes, he supposed she was pretty, but obviously a muggle, an irritating one that approached him and Harry for no reason, when she got closer she tried to pinch Harry’s cheeks but Harry deflected her hand so she gave up, turning back to Draco who just looked at her bored.

“No, I’m just the one taking care of him” he had hoped that she’d leave him alone but she just seemed more eager to talk.

“Adorable, I take care of my younger cousins from time to time,” _did she have to get so close?_ He wondered, ready to turn her down “So I thought, if you need some help, maybe --”

“Hey, Malfoy,” maybe following Ginny to learn about muggle money, hadn’t been a terrible decision after all “I found these at a discount, I guess I could try making something with it”

She raised her eyes from the package and saw the blonde and how both Harry and Draco looked uncomfortable, Draco seemed even glad to see her arrive, in the same way he looked when Harry cried and she was there to take him back that is. She rolled her eyes and smiled at the girl.

“Hello,” she said friendly “My husband is bothering you?”

Draco groaned, of course she wouldn’t just save him.

The girl blushed, taking a few steps back “Oh! I’m sorry... I just-- Sorry!”

They watched her run away then Draco glared at her “Really?”

Ginny laughed “And lose the chance to see you lose the will to live? Nah.”

“Psycho.”

“Why? You interested, isn’t she a bit old for you?” she teased him as they continued their shopping.

“As if I’d go for a muggle” he sneered.

Ginny stopped in her tracks, her smile falling. Their cohabitation, while full of jabs from one another, had been pretty peaceful, in a way, that month had led her to almost forget who Draco Malfoy really was and the reminder wasn’t pretty, more like a punch to the stomach.

The memories were still there and she should have not let herself get comfortable in their new dynamic. It was what she needed, _really_.

“Weasley?” his expression calm, he asked her, noticing she was left behind, Harry smiling from the cart.

She shook her head and smiled.

“Time to teach you about muggle money” she ran in front of him toward the front to pay.

She didn’t want to admit just yet, that she _wanted_ to get comfortable.

They were going up the stairs, Ginny carrying Harry and Draco carrying the bags when they saw her.

“Mrs. Rees!” Ginny exclaimed smiling.

The woman smiled back and hugged her when they arrived on the third floor.

“Sorry for intruding, you two left the address when you came back to pick your things,” she explained and even Draco had to admit that he didn’t mind that strange muggle “so I thought to drop by to visit.”

“No, it’s alright!” Ginny opened the door and invited her in “Please”

With a simple thank, the woman entered the flat and smiled at Harry’s few toys on the ground. While Draco went to the kitchen, Ginny put Harry on the ground, as she often did when they got back from the store but this time he crawled to Mrs. Rees, raising his arms, asking to be held.

The woman happily obliged and Ginny thought that it was the first time someone other than she or Draco held him.

She smiled and asked “And about your son? Is his daughter well?”

Mrs. Rees delighted in the chance to speak about her granddaughter “She was born a week after you left, they named her Daisy!” she exclaimed “Oh! She is perfect, absolutely adorable, a handful as any newborn but I will admit, watching my Benjamin navigate parenthood is more amusing than I thought” and continued to rumble on about all that the girl had done, from the first feeding to clothing to baby noises. Neither Draco nor Ginny felt like stopping her.

“He didn’t know how to change diapers!” Mrs. Rees shook her head “Well, anyway, I’m sure you two already know about it, was Harry difficult as a newborn?”

Draco and Ginny exchanged a look.

Not letting parents sleep was a thing newborns did right? As long as the woman didn’t question it.

“Terrible!” Draco tried “Couldn’t sleep.” Ginny just nodded solemnly in support.

Mrs. Rees agreed with a smile and they relaxed, glad once more that the woman lived in her own reality.

“And what about now, what are your plans?” the woman asked gently “I don’t think there is a way for both of you to go back to school.”

They felt the pain as they remembered Hogwarts, everything about it seemed so long ago, and the fact they knew they couldn’t go back hurt deeply. The school grounds in winter, snow and laughter as they played with their friends, the lake in the warm days before summer, talking and enjoying the air as they finished their homework. Draco missed the way the light hit the Slytherin dungeon in the morning and Ginny missed the Gryffindor common room and curling in one of the armchairs by the fire.

But they couldn’t go back and to think about it wouldn’t help them.

“I’ve been thinking to search for a job after the holidays are over” _and to learn more about being a muggle until then_ , Draco explained.

The older woman nodded content with the explanation “Good, and what job do you want to apply to?”

Draco opened his mouth but closed it without saying anything, he didn’t know what he was going to do now, what his strengths were, or what jobs he wanted, much less muggle ones.

He felt lost.

“He is very good with numbers, much better than I with money”

Ginny wasn’t lying, since he began to learn about muggle money, he’d learned faster than she expected and had quickly made their spending more efficient. She truly believed in it.

Draco's cheeks turned pink-ish “I was supposed to take over the family business, I learned early” he didn’t know why he felt that he needed to explain himself but did it anyway.

It made sense but Ginny realized then that she didn’t know much about Draco at all, as the only heir he would obviously have to learn how to manage his inheritance and it wasn’t the sort of thing they learned at Hogwarts. It was strange to picture Malfoy, at night maybe, looking over business proposals and accounts of properties alongside his magical studies, all this time and she had no idea.

Who he was, what he liked, what he wanted, she didn’t know.

She supposed he didn’t know her either but she never hid who she was or what she wanted, spirited as any Weasley, and especially after what happened with Tom, she had refused to stand in shadows and hide away but Malfoy had slowly fallen into them.

Could she reach out to him?

The voice of Mrs. Rees bringing her back from her thoughts “So, finances then?”

Draco nodded, it was a sense of direction he hadn’t realized he needed before, he realized then that for years his future was pretty much set in stone, to think that it would take a trip to the past for that to change.

For the first time, he had control over who he would be.

_All of this_ , Draco thought, a bitterness spreading over him, _Away from you, father._

“Yes, I think It will be good” and he smiled to Ginny, surprised that it had begun from her.

Ginny smiled back.

“Mrs. Rees, do you want to stay for dinner?” she got up and turned to the woman.

“I don’t want to intrude”

“It’s the least we can do, no intrusion” Ginny explained.

Mrs. Rees smiled “Then I would love it”

Harry reached out to Ginny in the kitchen but Mrs. Rees stopped him.

“Your mum is busy now, won’t you prefer dad instead?” she asked the toddler but he continued to reach for Ginny.

Draco snorted “It’s no use, he doesn’t like me.”

Mrs. Rees frowned and exclaimed, “Oh, he doesn’t!”

“He just cries with me!” he tried to defend himself.

“Nonsense! Come here,” he hesitated so she went to him instead, handing him a squirming Harry.

He picked the baby and saw the tell-tale sign that Harry was about to cry. Draco started to panic, mild sobbing had been by far the best he’d managed so far, the toddler preferred Ginny, why put both of them in that situation then?

“See, he doesn’t like me” Mrs. Rees just shook her head, smiling at the uncomfortable teenager.

“Of course, he doesn’t like it” she laughed “You are scared, and he knows that, he needs comfort, try calming him, maybe speak quietly, smile more”

Now that he thought about it, that was how he calmed Harry at that time too, was that really all he needed? He looked to Harry, green eyes looking back at him, and tried to calm himself, hold the baby more steadily and rock him a little.

Draco had to admit he didn’t expect anything to change but Harry brightened, shining eyes disappearing and instead, he even smiled!

The unfortunate consequence being that Harry was a curious child and took his new opportunity to study Draco, tiny hands all over his face.

“I think I liked him better before”

Ginny and Mrs. Rees laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to my cousin, I wasn't making Draco bitchy enough ;D  
> So this was the result, hope you enjoy it!  
> Also, this was not yet jealousy, just Ginny making fun of him, they're not there yet, I like taking my time with this :)


	7. Where is Harry Potter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really wanted to thank Frogmire for allowing me to use their fantastic idea!

”Ah! Dumbledore, you’re here!”

The older wizard smiled to the people in the room, Cornelius Fudge being the one that had welcomed him.

“Just because he is gone we shouldn’t lose good habits,” Alastor Moody chastised him “We should question even Dumbledore”

Barty Crouchglared at him instead “Are you implying my defenses are ineffectual?”

“Please, we are here to discuss the current location of Harry Potter, we can leave the rest for later”

The other three agreed, Alastor grumbling about vigilance.

When it had become clear that the boy was not in Godric’s Hollow, Dumbledore had decided to consult with the three men, _the_ auror and the two Minister candidates, as they were the most likely to find the information he needed.

“So,” Dumbledore began “Alastor, anything from the aurors?”

The man snorted “Had to lecture a lot of them, you’d think they’d know how to do their jobs, but nothing! No sign of Potter anywhere.”

“What is the possibility that he left the country?”

“Aside from shady deals? Not much and even then, they’d have to go through aurors in all wizarding communities, if they had, we would know.”

Dumbledore frowned, even his less commendable contacts had had no luck, Harry Potter seemed to elude them at every turn.

“Maybe,” Cornelius offered “he is dead as they say”

The silence between the men was oppressive.

Crouch sighed then “That day we captured the traitor Black”

Dumbledore looked at the man.

“He worked with the Death Eaters, betrayed for them”Crouch explained himself “If they are involved in this, he is the man that would know”

“Question Sirius Black about Potter’s whereabouts?” he asked.

Dumbledore had tried not to think of Sirius Black, his whole being had been dedicated to finding the boy, not sparing a thought to the traitor now in Azkaban, the person that had killed his friends just as much as Voldemort did, but then again, _who was he to talk about friends?_

Maybe this was the solution he didn’t see, the people closest to the case, he should’ve known better. So he agreed with the idea.

“Then,” Alastor said “Tomorrow I will send aurors to interrogate him”

“But if we fail, then,” Crouchsaid with an air of finality “we will have to give up the search, we are spread too thin, I think we should focus on the Death Eaters”

“I also think we should focus on that filth” added Alastor.

Dumbledore nodded, he would continue his own research even if the others gave up but it was better to just agree for now, he had his own plans that they didn’t need to know.

Because tomorrow, he too, would visit someone.

Someone who also had a hand in the death of Lily and James Potter.

Sirius jumped in his cell in Azkaban.

He had another nightmare, only, it wasn’t just a nightmare.

In the nightmares he was back in Godric’s Hollow, the charms and wards on the house were gone and Hagrid stood helplessly sobbing by the entrance, he had gone to the half-giant, desperate, but he could not understand what he was saying, barely catching ‘Harry’ amidst the sobbing he at least figured out that something was wrong with his godson so he ran inside.

Back then, he thought he would be able to mourn his friends later, so he ignored their corpses, now he wished he’d been able to give them a last goodbye.

He entered the nursery, but there was no child and he assumed the worse, _was that what Hagrid was crying about? Was Harry dead?_ But there was no body, no wretched sight of a life cut short too soon, but Harry, alive and smiling, wasn’t there either. Sirius tried every room of the house when Hagrid’s voice reached him.

“Already tried, looked everywhere” and let another sob.

“But where is he?!” he must have looked positively mad, he kept running his fingers through his hair, worry and pain marring his face. All he wanted was to know that Harry was safe.

Hagrid shook his head, clearly he didn’t know either.

Sirius's expression darkened.

There was one person that might know, the same one that had betrayed them all.

“I need to tell Dumbledore” Hagrid explained, still crying heavily “He had asked me to bring him Harry, but now...now I have to tell him”

Sirius nodded and indicated the motorcycle, to reach the disgusting _rat_ he didn’t need it and he’d rather have his hands free, Wormtail had to suffer “Take the motorcycle, I have to talk to someone”

He then disapparated to find a murderer.

”Wake up, Black!” his guards screamed beyond the bars, looking down at him.

He wasn’t sure if their presence interrupting his memories was a blessing or a curse, thinking about that night reminded him of Harry, the bittersweet of the situation kept him sane, something of his godson that the dementors couldn’t take from him.

He looked at them from the corner of his eyes, hoping for a trial was too much in times when the ministry would do anything to say they were saving the magical population in troubled times. So he wondered what they wanted with him.

One of them sneered “You’re in for questioning”

The other added “For the disappearance of Harry James Potter”

So they were going to blame him for that now? He glared at both aurors, his animagus instincts telling him to just attack but none of that would help and after a month in there he felt very weak. He’d rather keep strength for when he discovered where Wormtail was.

They dragged him through a long corridor and down two sets of stairs, the scream of the other prisoners accompanying them.

A third guard opened a door at the end of the path, the room inside was mostly bare aside from a chair, not unlike the one in the Wizengamot, heavy chains binding him once he sat down, the eyes of the aurors on him at all times. Once they performed the necessary charms on the room they closed the door, only them now.

“The night you sold Lily and James Potter”

“I didn’t--”

“ _THE NIGHT_ you hunted down the innocent Peter Pettigrew after returning to the scene of your crime against the ones that trusted you”

“I wasn’t--”

“ _THAT_ same night, Harry James Potter, reportedly alive, disappeared from Godric’s Hollow”

Sirius rolled his eyes, they were questioning him but were unwilling to listen to him, what did they hope to accomplish, the list of his crimes?

“You were their secret keeper and You-Know-Who’s informant, if this is your _lot’s_ fault, you should know”

Sirius glared at the two aurors “I don’t know where Harry is and I wasn’t--”

“We have ways to make you talk, don’t lie to us”

“I’m not lying!” Sirius snarled.

“Well, there is more to that night than we believe and you are the one most connected to the case. Where. Is. The. Boy?” the auror got closer.

“I don’t know where Harry is, I didn’t hide him! I. Am. Not. Guilty!”

He barely felt the chains tightening on his wrists, his whole body now in pain, it wasn’t quite as painful as a _Cruciatus_ , but on a weakened prisoner’s body that wouldn’t be much of a difference.

“Consider it a Christmas present.” The sneering auror offered “Now, answer our questions”

His face hidden by his hair, Sirius growled “I didn’t do anything”

“That’s not what Mr. Crouch said, we know your type Black, even with all the evidence against you, you still want to play the good guy” the guard insulted him, disgusted by the person they believed to be a traitor “After seeing your own friends dead, you’d think one would realize, but I guess you are in too deep, so instead, where is Potter?”

Once more the pain hit him but he refused to scream for the incompetent aurors.

The questioning continued the whole day and only once the torture session, for that it truly had been, ended and he rested his pained body on the prison cot, did Sirius let himself think, a tragic thought, he almost wished for the dementors to it take away.

_Can’t believe it’s almost Christmas._

Severus Snape didn’t enjoy the holidays, he didn’t enjoy most things really, but that Christmas in particular was going to be his worst, most miserable, one yet.

Was it even worth it when Lily was dead?

He kept thinking that there was more he could’ve done for her, maybe reach her that night and talk like they had done back when they were younger. If only he could’ve been with her then, but what could he have really done? They all thought Black was this incorruptible good person and refused to see what he’d seen from day one on the train.

But she had drifted away from him then and was dead now.

And he was alone.

Vaguely aware of what happened around him, he had refused any contact from the outside, Lucius had sent him a letter but it stood unopened in the same spot it had been left by the owl. He didn’t want to hear about his great escape from imprisonment, he barely cared for his regard anymore, a divide was created between him and Lily when they choose their sides, did he still cared for the Death Eaters?

Lucius had been his prefect and to an extent, a friend.

But Lucius Malfoy was a man whose heart held only so much space, power and his family saturated said space and he wasn’t even so sure he knew which of the two mattered most to the man, people did say that one could only know what they treasured the most once they lost it and Lucius Malfoy had still both. What space did it leave for a friend? One such as him, part muggle, even?

Men like Malfoy didn’t have many friends, tools and minions were most likely, allies at best.

Or maybe he just didn’t want to be near someone that didn’t care about the loss he felt deeply in his soul, was he even still one of them after her death? Snape got up from his place on the ground of the house, he needed a drink, something to numb his mind.

He did find the drink but he also found Albus Dumbledore in the kitchen of his house, calmly seated at the table with two cups.

All things he wanted to avoid.

“Am I going to be arrested?” Snape wondered if the man changed his mind about him yet, either way, he poured himself a drink.

“No, I offered my protection and in return, you had to protect Harry Potter once he arrived in Hogwarts,” the man said and Snape grabbed his cup, drinking it at once.

“Whom nobody can find,” he sneered, he wasn’t all that bothered that Potter’s son was missing.

“True,” Dumbledore nodded before fixing his eyes blue on him, searching for the truth in his dark ones “That is where you are needed”

Snape glared at the older wizard “You are not going to ask me to search for the boy, will you?”

“No, but you must know something about this, if your side--”

“My side? You think the Death Eaters did this?” he asked incredulous, maybe slightly outraged, why would any of them want to keep Potter?

“You would know them better than I did, a professor would only know so far” even as Dumbledore said so, his eyes continued inexpressive and Snape had no way of knowing what the man truly thought.

“Most just care about escaping the aurors” he shrugged “And even if they did, the Dark Lord went alone that night”

Dumbledore frowned, deep in thought.

“So, you say,” the man said finally “that there was no one else besides the four of them in Godric’s Hollow.”

That was the truth as far as he knew it, there was no reason to lie about it.

“I thought you placed wards on the boy, can you not feel them?”

Dumbledore got up from the kitchen table and paced the room twice before standing in front of the window, looking pensively to the outside.

“I did, but the blood wards never latched on as he was not delivered to his aunt, and yet,”

Snape observed the man, conscious that what he could see was only what the wizard _let_ him see.

“Somehow, there is a protection over Harry Potter I did not expect, I can feel it but not reach it”

And that was Dumbledore’s question.

That night, what had been more powerful than blood?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thanks to Frogmire for the great idea, hope I did it justice!  
> The aurors are sent by Moody but talk about Crouch because he is the one that convicted him, I'm not sure I did that part justice, Moody looks kind of a dick (but then again, he is not the one responsible for how the aurors chose to question Sirius, so I suppose it's still okay? I might go back and change this)  
> Gods, writing Snape's part was the worst, I didn't want to be terribly sympathetic (he is a dick that tormented children just because he didn't get to fuck the girl he never listened to, like dude, she clearly would have loved you before James even thought of becoming a better person, defended you and went against her friends for you but nooooo, your death eaters pals were soooo important and you just haaad to call her a mudblood for no reason and then tormented her son for years just because he looked like his dad, asshole) but if I just wrote him completely negative his part was too short and boring (I mean, 100 word of friendzone whinging before Dumbledore shows up was just not good) and I keep worrying that I'm messing when happened what(had the attack on the Longbottoms happened yet here? goooods)...  
> So, hell really! (also, because I'm evil and think everyone should suffer with me: while writing Snape thinking about Lucius I wanted to set up what kind of person Lucius is going to be in the story but my mind kept going "homoerotic whinging" a really cursed thought in every way)
> 
> p.s: also, listening to bubblegum-pop-rom songs while writing torture is TIGHT!


	8. First Christmas

It was the day before Christmas and Ginny realized they had no tree.

Really, they didn’t have much of anything, and their money went towards existing until one of them could get a good job, and they had no idea how to deal with being a family yet, and...

But it was Christmas! There would be no fairy lights, no chocolate fudge, no Christmas jumpers, no gnome on the tree, no brothers to laugh with, no mother to tell her not to eat the food yet, no father to smile and talk about muggles with. They should at least have a tree!

And... maybe ornaments if they could?

As the streets were more and more filled with colourful lights and decorations, the more their flat looked grey and dull. Weren’t first Christmas supposed to be magical?

Ginny looked on the ground where Malfoy had decided to spend his day, bored out of his mind, she wondered if he felt the same, if he missed his parents and Christmas with them, if he also wanted to reach for a comforting hand that wouldn’t arrive. It wouldn’t be too difficult to imagine that he’d be missing some fancy gala with the best food and Christmas ornaments made of gold, or whatever rich wizards did to pass the holidays, rather than sharing his spot on the ground with a curious toddler that would occasionally hit him with his only plush toy.

Considering how he used to scream at being left with Draco, she considered that an improvement.

“You are just going to let him?” he had noticed her looking and she thought it just made it funnier, he raised his eyebrow but this show of dignity was ruined by another hit.

Ginny smiled and leaned forward on her spot on the couch “We should buy a tree.”

“With what money?” he scowled at her.

“It’s our first Christmas, we should have a tree!” she exclaimed jumping from the couch and Harry turned towards her, curious at the noise.

Draco decided to just ignore her and close his eyes, block the Weasley when she had one of her ideas seemed like the best option. Only, Ginny refused to be ignored and, instead, poked him in the ribs.

“What?!”

He always looked just a little wrong when he was mad, twitching in contained anger, less than the perfect Malfoy he had been at Hogwarts, she had never noticed that back then, he had always looked haughty in his new pristine clothing and she thought he looked stupid, when mad he was less guarded and it just made her want to do it again.

“It’s Christmas! Not even you can be so nonchalant about it!” she grinned and he sat down huffing.

“Why not?” he asked annoyed but it did nothing to damper her enthusiasm “The only fun about it were the presents and I’m not getting any, so”

“Really, nothing fun about Christmas for you?” Ginny asked in disbelief.

“Our family... my father,” Draco started, eyes glazing “He used the holidays for networking, it was never really much fun.”

Draco didn’t understand why talking about his father came so difficult lately, he wanted to believe the bitterness he felt was only of missing him and that any displeasure was solely on being time-displaced, refused to look further than that.

“Wow,” she laughed “sounds even more boring than I thought”

He rolled his eyes, ready to ignore her _again_ but she stopped him _again_.

“What now?” his irritation growing.

“We _need_ a tree,” she said, looking intently in his eyes, the soft brown hues making him uncomfortable.

“I doubt they have any we can pay,” he said but got up nevertheless, maybe once he returned empty-handed she’d calm down.

Draco walked towards the door and had grabbed his jacket when he heard Ginny talking to Harry.

“This way we can start our own traditions, as a family”

It stopped him mid-dressing, the way she so casually spoke of them like that.

She, that had once pointed her wand at him, she, that had always stood for everything he hated, _she_ , that had every reason to hate him. She hadn’t forgiven him, he knew that, but somehow that knowledge made it worse, they had so much left unsaid, feelings they buried to stay together by chance and by choice. It felt like a denial of sorts.

What kind of family were they supposed to be like this?

Her audacity turned him bitter and, unsure of what made him so mad about it ** **,**** he lashed out.

“Weasley,” and when she looked at him, he told her “We are not a family.”

The closing of the door felt like a slap, the sound almost too loud in her mind she didn’t even hear Harry calling her, instead falling back on the couch.

The most unexpected was the fact that it hurt.

Ginny didn’t see that coming, they _both_ had cringed and bemoaned their pretend relationship, she enjoyed seeing him angry and she loved to watch him struggle with the muggle world and how to behave with Harry, they weren’t in love and much less friends, it made sense that it didn’t make them family.

But she hurt nonetheless.

Ginny was glad he had gone, she wasn’t sure what she would have done, scream? Thrown something at him? She couldn’t hex him after all. And it gave her time to think, dig inside of her and finally think about how she felt.

Since arriving in the past she had decided that playing nice and hiding away their past to avoid true conflict was best, every scathing word, every remark, every action, all things she had refused to look at in almost two months. The scene in the store had brought back some of it but the rest had stayed in their corner, afraid of the light.

Now she had to confront the fact that the person living with her was Draco Malfoy, a different name didn’t make him into a different person, he was proud of his family even when his father tormented those under him, he had accepted the dark mark and was a Death Eater, she couldn’t just throw it aside.

Because she was still Ginny Weasley, she was part of the family he had insulted and made fun of, she was there when he made life impossible for her brother and she was there when he brought the Death Eaters into Hogwarts.

Their conflict had always been personal, to deny to look at those facts she also refused herself the chance to move forward.

She had to start at their beginning, she couldn’t blame either of them for their father’s feud, in all honesty, even before meeting him, her opinion of Draco had been made years before, her father had always spoken badly of the Malfoys and she hadn’t ever thought that their son would be different, and with Lucius Malfoy being so different from Arthur Weasley, it was no surprise that Draco had thought the same before ever meeting them.

She could blame him for what he’d done _after_ meeting them, choosing to ridicule based on status alone, they were both children, if he’d reached out she was sure things could’ve been different, but to Draco Malfoy only one opinion had mattered then, that of Lucius Malfoy.

Was it then, Lucius’s fault for leading his son in that direction? When did the blame fall on Lucius and when did it fall on Draco?

Perhaps the answer was that easy, maybe she could have really forgiven him everything.  
But she had not forgotten the tower, nor the hurt he brought with those actions.

Ginny had never asked him about it, or even asked herself, why he did what he did that night. It was clearly an order from Voldemort and he had spent a year trying to complete it, almost killing in his journey, did he even regret it? Or were they all just casualties for him?

No matter how she tried to put it, she couldn’t imagine a place at Voldemort table was that important, even for him, but then again, _Lucius_ hadn’t cared about hurt any of them when they were at the Ministry, could she really believe Draco was the same?

There was where she got stuck, after all he’d done, she _couldn’t_ believe Draco was like his father.

For the first time, without having to be Malfoy or Weasley, she had seen Draco, the person that refused to let her go when she wanted to go after Voldemort, the person that had chosen to stay with her and Harry, the person that was now living in the midst of everything he was taught to hate, for _them_.

_How_ was she to interpret his confusing behaviour?

What was she supposed to do when, as she realized, all she wanted now was to learn more about that person she had never tried to know before, Ginny wasn’t sure how to deal with their past or what it meant for their future.

She felt a hand on her leg, coming back to the present and noticing Harry again.

“Oh! Sorry Harry!” she picked him up, checking to see if he wasn’t hurt and relaxing again when she was sure he was okay, smiling as usual. She sighed “What do you think I should do Harry?”

His green eyes looked at her confused, not really knowing what she asked of him.

“Yeah, thought so...”

After all, only she could answer that question.

Draco took a deep breath, staring at the door unsure.

Freezing seemed a better option than an angry Weasley, he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t just hex him, uncaring of the consequences, and even if that wasn’t it, he didn’t want to see how she’d lash out.

After the way he left, Draco feared for his life.

As it is, however, he wasn’t ready to die in the cold so he forced himself to open the door, the Weasleys had all been a furious bunch and he expected screaming on the other side, maybe something like a Howler, either way, he entered the flat cautiously.

“You’re back...”

But his reception was nothing of the sort.

Ginny stood by the couch, holding Harry, with a subdued expression and shadows he couldn’t read, her eyes almost tried to avoid him, as if he was something she wanted to hide from. He hated that more than the screaming, he could see her retreating from him, not physically, the person he’d known for the past two months hiding away.

Draco supposed that should’ve made him happy, Weasley didn’t want to play pretend-happy-family anymore and they could be more as they were back in Hogwarts, more distant perhaps, he barely even knew her anyway, why’d he care? No more levity and complicated shared laughter, no more messing with each other, no more questioning, they weren’t a family and much less friends.

But it still hurt.

Draco frowned and extended his arm, revealing the small plastic tree he bought, it was supposed to be an ornament for a real one, but “This is the best I could find on Christmas Eve”

Taking it from him, her smile didn’t reach her eyes but she thanked him nonetheless.

“Weasley --”

A knock on the door distracted them.

When he opened the door, Mrs. Rees friendly face appeared, behind her a man in his late twenties pushing a stroller and a blonde woman at his side.

“Were you about to go out?” Mrs. Rees asked worried she’d interrupted them.

“No, just came back” he offered a forced smile, his feelings still too conflicted for more than that.

Ginny appeared at his side then, much more relaxed now that there was someone as buffer between them, that offended him a little, he wasn’t the irrational one, _damn weasel_.

“Please come in, we don’t have much but it’s better than the cold” she smiled.

They thanked her and entered the now much more cramped flat.

“So you two are the Hewitts my mum has talked about so much” Benjamin Rees smiled and shook their hands in turn.

“She has talked about you too” Ginny smiled, she was fond of Mrs. Rees rambling after all.

“Hope it was good” Gwen Rees also shook their hands but looked at them with worry after “You two look much younger than I thought, how old are you?”

Draco shrugged “I’m sixteen” the two adults paled as he imagined, he knew they’d receive that kind of look from then on, he tried to not let it bother him.

“So young, and Harry is even a year old already, I’m twenty-seven, can’t imagine going through this so soon” Gwen seemed horrified but he chose to ignore it.

Ginny instead decided to introduce Harry to Daisy, the toddler being completely unimpressed, laughing she asked “What are you doing here today? I thought you would spend Christmas at home”

“Well, we were going to” Benjamin smiled “But mum was restless, couldn’t imagine you three spending Christmas alone, so we decided to come all, the things you do for family, really”

The man shrugged and missed the way their façade fell for a moment, unable to confront each other with so many people around.

“And!” exclaimed Mrs. Rees resolute “Next Christmas we will bring you a good Christmas tree!”

Hours later Mrs. Rees, her son and his family were talking on the couch, Harry delighting the three with his babbling, Mrs. Rees even jokingly said that it was a good practice for Benjamin to know how to deal with a toddler considering how unprepared he’d been with Daisy, a joke that he took in good-spirit and laughed alongside them.

But Ginny was instead focused on the window and Draco wondered if she was thinking about her family, then reprimanded himself, of course she’d be thinking of them. Her eyes dark, the light not quite reaching that window, he wondered if maybe now, they would be able to talk.

When he got closer her eyes shifted, turning to the plastic tree from before, eyes glazed.

Standing at her side he couldn’t bring himself to talk, to begin that conversation, words dying as soon as he thought them, and when she looked at him, he gave up on talking entirely.

Her hand reached his, holding it for a moment she whispered:

“Merry Christmas Malfoy”

Before joining Mrs. Rees again, leaving him colder than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I being much of a downer? My best suit is definitely angst but my intent on these first few chapters is more along the bittersweet but I keep feeling I'm not doing a good job at portraying that, I hope this is not terribly disappointing anyway! The day of reckoning is not yet upon them but it's getting closer ;)


	9. Fever

The holidays had come and gone, spring had long since begun, it was the time to begin again but the cold could still be felt on some days, even when all the flowers wanted was to bloom.

That was one of such days, when a boy of sixteen sat on a park bench, sighing to himself and holding his jacket closer. It had felt like one of those days for a long time now for him, he had tried another interview that day and received another rejection, the usual reason: he was too young, too inexperienced, not what they were looking for, the list went on.

For the first time, Draco wasn’t asking much but it didn’t matter, he just seemed to never be enough.

And going home wasn’t better, since Christmas he and Weasley hadn’t talked about family, really they hadn’t spoken much to each other at all, mostly they just talked when they decided who would take care of Harry while the other went out, they hadn’t been outside the flat together either.

The cold he’d felt that Christmas wasn’t leaving him, lonely in many ways, and then being constantly rejected, he was tired but didn’t want to go back to her cold shoulder just yet.

Could he even think of the flat as home? He had been the one to tell Weasley they weren’t a family and cause their rift, was it hypocritical of him to do that now?

Home used to be Malfoy Manor and its surrounding grounds. It used to be his mother, smiling and overprotective, worrying about everything he did, and if she had her way, he would have never left the parlour without her and even then only after a million protective charms.

And It used to be his father, complaining about things not going how he wanted them to go, laughing at people incompetence at work and reminding Draco about the ways he hadn’t done enough as a son...

Draco wanted so badly to just remember the good parts, to think about his father as he did back when he was a child, but all his actions were tarnished by how he’d failed, every word dripping irony as none came through, Draco struggled to understand where his father went wrong, in his bitterness he wondered if maybe it had been wrong from the start.

He got up from the bench and walked around the park, people passing by him and conversing calmly.

Last month Mrs. Rees had gone back to her own house and he had to admit he would miss the strange woman, if for no other reason that she would often bring sweets with her when she visited them.

The irony of missing a muggle while questioning his father was not lost on him.

Weasley would find it funny if she wasn’t ignoring him...

He believed that when she stopped talking to him, he would have been to see his past in a better light, found comfort in his beliefs and that he’d be reassured that his father had been right, but the distance between him and Weasley had done nothing to stop it, it even left him more time to think about it.

_What a bothersome twist_ , he sighed.

He looked around the town some more, even asked around to see if anyone knew about job opportunities but no one could give him an answer so he resigned to going back h... to the flat.

When Draco opened the door he first noticed Harry’s distress, how he held onto the couch and reached his hand to Ginny on the couch, it wasn’t normal that she would just ignore Harry that way so maybe she was just sleeping but when he got closer it was clear that wasn’t it.

Ginny was cocooned in their blanket, shivering and trying to keep all the warmth she could by holding herself, face completely red but he couldn’t even make a joke about her hair when she opened her eyes and looked so much in pain. He got closer and put his hand on her forehead, receiving a groan for that, his hands were still cold from before so he rubbed them together until it felt a more natural temperature before checking her again. She was boiling.

She didn’t say anything but looked at him with teary eyes from her fever.

“This is a problem,” he said and she tried to mock him but at that moment it only pained her, Draco sighed “We don’t have Pepper Up potion”

“Good, I hate it” she whispered.

“I don’t know what muggles use for this,” he said more to himself, Mrs. Rees departure was worse now, if she was still here he would be able to ask, but as it was, he was alone.

Harry wailed at his side and he corrected himself, he was alone with a toddler.

So, worse, really.

What one did with a sick person? All he knew was that when he felt sick they would give him potions but he had no ingredients to even start making one. Draco tried to think of anything else he could do.

For one, he realized, keeping her on the small couch was not a good idea.

He took the covers from her and Ginny whimpered, trying to get back her warmth even if moving felt painful, when she felt Draco’s arms holding her and panicked for a moment, much more aware now.

“You don’t need to do this, I just need to sleep it off” but he gave her a dirty look, carrying her to the bedroom.

Maybe it was her fevered brain but Ginny had to admit, Malfoy was stronger than he looked.

_Ugh, stupid brain,_ she shivered trying to take in his warmth without talking to him, she’d been doing so well up until that moment, why did she have to get sick?

Draco put her down on the bed, noticing how she held onto his jacket, annoyed at the distance from her new source of heat, she had to be pretty bad if she was even holding him.

“We need to cool you down,” he told her and she looked at him as if he was mad, he raised his eyebrows at her “You have a fever, you need to make it go down, not hide under the covers” she put her arms around herself, pouting.

“I will bring you some water”

He came back into the room with a cup, a bowl, and a towel, handed her the cup, and waited for her to drink it. After he was sure she had finished he took the towel and dipped it into the water, making sure it was only moist as he then dabbed it on her, hoping it would help lower her temperature.

Ginny didn’t seem to notice much of what he was doing, the pain clouding her perception.

Draco hoped it was enough, he didn’t know what he would do if it was more serious than that.

“I should’ve come home sooner” he whispered, observing her fall asleep.

Ginny didn’t hear him.

Draco exited the room with a sigh, leaving the door open in case Ginny needed it. In the middle of all their problems, this was just the cherry on top, of course one of them would get sick.

He heard wailing and turned to look at Harry, who had pulled himself up holding onto the couch, looking in distress at him, one hand towards Draco, his usual sign of wanting to be picked up.

“Hum, guess Ginny couldn’t really take care of you today, huh?” he asked picking up the child, who held onto his shirt.

He couldn’t help but smile, Harry could be quite the cute child when he wanted to, but he didn’t dwell on those thoughts, carrying him to the kitchen, “Have you eaten yet?” the toddler shook his head and Draco nodded, picking the mush from the fridge.

But when he tried to put Harry on the ground again, the toddler refused to let go of him, it wasn’t really normal for him and Draco wondered for how long Ginny had been in that state, he really should not have walked around before.

Resigned he sat on the couch with the child on his knee, now happily eating and ruining Draco’s shirt in the process. The idea of one of his interviewers looking horrified at his sullied shirt made him laugh, they would refuse him in record time. It would be tragic if it didn’t sound fun to him at the moment.

“You really are starting to walk, huh,” Draco said, not that he would get an answer but Harry appreciated being talked to, so he continued, “Should we try teaching you tomorrow? Maybe Weasley will be better by then”

Harry looked at him, giggled and “Daa!”

Draco’s eyes widened “Are you trying to say Draco?”

The toddler said it again.

“No, it’s Draco, not Daa”

“Daa!”

“Draa-co”

Harry frowned and concentrated “Daa...” Draco waited to see if he would say it right this time, Harry turned back to him and smiled, his mouth dirty from the mush “Daa!”

Draco sighed but conceded a smile “For now it will be enough”

The child continued to eat his food, happy that Draco seemed content with him.

After he finished eating, Draco gave him a bath and put him in fresh clothing, he also changed into his other shirt, albeit this one wasn’t as good for the cold as the first, all to the tune of Harry‘s “Daa”, he tried again to put Harry alone on the couch but the day had been long and the child didn’t want to let him go, taking comfort in his presence.

So he laid down on the couch, the toddler on his chest, getting sleepier as he hummed songs that he could remember from his past.

Soon, both were asleep.

An hour later, feeling slightly less terrible, Ginny decided to take a bath, hoping to lower her fever for good this time. She exited the bedroom and saw the most peculiar scene, Draco asleep with one arm holding baby Harry so he wouldn’t fall, the other touching the ground as he was too tall for the small couch. Biting her lips she got closer and smiled at the two.

Something about the scene filled her with longing but Malfoy’s voice telling her they were not a family came back to hurt her.

When Draco woke up he only heard the bathroom door close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there :D I hope this doesn't feel too much of a drag, they will talk soon! (I already have those chapters ready, so it won't take that long)  
> So, the line about Draco being strong, is it just because this is a romance fanfic? Actually no! I just truly think book 7 makes Draco much stronger than he is supposed to be by mistake, because in the scene with Fynd(it's 4 am, I can't remember the name right now) Fire he carries an unconcious Goyle, who is constantly described as bigger and heavier than him, away from the flames and up a Precarious tower of objects, and even if you think "Oh well, that's adrenaline" in the same situation the trio has difficulties with Goyle, so I just want to include Draco being strong because I think it's hilarious. (So it's really less "I want to make my ml interesting" and more "the author made a mistake and that benefits me and I find it funny")


	10. First steps

The next day Ginny felt much better, but the longing she felt that day didn’t leave her, it felt like a pit in her stomach and it complicated her resolve at keeping Malfoy at arm’s length. Was she supposed to question him now? They couldn’t keep dancing around it anymore, what would she do if it came to the worst if he was just as bad as she remembered him to be... she wasn’t sure she could, or wanted to, do this alone anymore.

She was distressed that morning when she woke up, left early for a morning jog, it wasn’t the best considering her fever of just the day prior, but she just had to. Ginny didn’t felt ready to face Draco yet, but as the pit grew she knew that she had to do something, to talk in a way they never did before, and at least, while letting the cold air hit her face, she could let go of her worries.

When she was back at the flat she took her time with the stairs, hoping that maybe he wouldn’t notice her arrival.

“Are you trying to get sick, Weasley?”

Too late.

“I needed a run, get it out of my system” she defended herself from his judgy eyebrow.

“Right after a fever that made you a shivering mess on the couch?!” Ginny hated that he was taller than her and she had to look up at him.

“I am better now!” she retorted and Draco frowned.

“If you colapse I won’t bother then!”

_And he left, the git!_

Fuming she went into the bathroom, cursing his name. Every insulting thing she could think about him, and his stupid, stupid, eyebrow that he would raise when he thought others were being unreasonable, and how he would cross his arms and use his height against her.

_I mean, sure, it is childish to be mad at someone that is just trying to keep you healthy, and maybe I should not have tried to run my worries away, and... was Malfoy worried? NO! I will not think about it!_

Ginny sighed, letting her head lean on the wall.

_I hate even more that he is right..._

Grumbling, Ginny put on her clothes and exited the room, only to find a surly Malfoy on the couch, Harry seemed perfectly content on the ground, she had almost forgotten that feeding Harry would fall to him since she was not there that morning, but while Harry could be easily fed with the baby mush, Malfoy...

She smirked.

“You haven’t eaten yet!” she exclaimed, full of glee as Malfoy fell more into the couch.

“I don’t know how to use the muggle kitchen or how to cook,” he pouted “And you know it”

Of course she knew, so, laughing at his predicament she went to the kitchen to make both of them some lunch.

Draco observed her from the couch.

He wondered if she realized that it was her first smile in almost four months.

After they had eaten, Ginny went to the window, to open to let the air in, enjoy the breeze now that the weather was warming up.

“What is it with you today?” Draco asked her, still sulking at being helpless that morning.

“Letting new air in is good for the body” it was something her mother said and back then it had bothered her because it meant letting in even the winter air, leaving her cold.

Things her mother used to say were starting to make more sense to her now. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

When she turned, however, she felt like melting.

Harry was walking, not alone yet of course, but instead, Malfoy was holding his hands as the toddler moved around the room, he didn’t seem very comfortable either, but followed the child anyway.

The longing hit her again, knocking the air out of her lungs, her heart trying to escape her chest.

Harry looked around curiously from his new perspective, dragging Draco around and after all those months it didn’t even felt wrong, they had settled in their new life barely realizing. How could she not want that family?

“Daa!” Harry exclaimed and Draco looked at him, comfortable with being called as such.

Draco saw her staring and clarified “I think he is trying to say Draco but hasn’t figured out the sounds just yet”

Ginny thought that what Harry was trying to say was very much _not_ Draco.

So instead she pretended that nothing was wrong and laughed at him.

“You look ridiculous”

He shot her a dirty look “I want to see you keeping your dignity walking like this.”

She laughed at that before biting her lip, then she asked “Do you think he can walk alone?”

Draco thought about and then said “He mostly just started walking with help but I suppose we could try”

She smiled and knelt on the ground, calling Harry to her, the toddler tried to reach her with support but Draco didn’t follow this time, instead, he slackened his grip, not completely but enough that Harry could let go if he tried.

The toddler looked confused at him “Daa?”

“Do you want to try and reach Weasley?” he asked Harry.

“It’s okay Harry, I’m not far,” she told the baby.

Harry tried a hesitant step toward Ginny, his hands still close enough that Draco could catch him, which was a good thing as on the second step he almost fell. His eyes watered, he didn’t like walking alone, he always had the couch before but the moment he tried, he failed.

Draco knelt on the ground this time, holding Harry he told him “It’s okay, it’s okay, no need to try!”

The toddler looked at him, Draco was smiling, now holding him at his waist, preventing more falls, and Ginny was a few steps away also smiling.

“You don’t need to learn just yet,” she told him, extending her hand to stroke his cheek.

Not holding anything felt scary but he felt very safe, maybe he could try again?

His first step surprised the two, they weren’t expecting for him to want to do it again, it was very soon anyway, but did their best anyway, this time Draco didn’t hold him, his hands hovering nearby just in case something happened and Ginny opened her arms.

His second step was suspenseful as they watched over him, but landing that step filled Harry with confidence again. His third and fourth steps were quicker as he now extended his own arms to Ginny, tears were forgotten and the smile on his face back.

On his last step, Ginny caught him in her arms, hugging and congratulating him.

Harry looked at her, content at being praised he exclaimed “Mama!”

Still in his place on the ground, Draco laughed “See, I told you he thinks any ginger is family”

But Ginny didn’t reply and when he looked at her he saw that her expression was instead one of dread.

“Weasley?” he asked while getting up.

She turned to him “It’s wrong...”

Draco sighed and got closer, taking her free hand in his “Weasley, you are not stealing him from his mother, you said it yourself, his muggle family is horrible, he could do much worse than you as his mother”

_No... Don’t console me..._

He looked at her so sincerely, not one line of mockery, just holding her hand and trying to make her feel better.

_It’s confusing..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is their talk ;)  
> I try to keep the chapters at least 1500 words, I tried with this but a longer chapter just wasn't going as I wanted, so I resigned to a shorter fluff chapter before The Reckoning ;) And also!! Harry's first input in the story!! I thought it might have been a bit early for Harry to walk but then again I come from a family of extremes, me being an early walker and my sister being a late one, Harry walking at 1 and 9 months isn't that unbelievable perhaps.  
> Hope you liked it!
> 
> p.s: thinking about it now, I should've just made this and the previous chapter together... oh well!


	11. The Fight

Ginny waited on the couch for the door to open, after the events of the previous day she knew she couldn’t delay their conversation any longer. She had to discover who Draco Malfoy really was, let go of their dependency on one another once and for all. She could forgive the immature boy, she could not, however, accept the man he could be if he continued on that path.

And if what she found was that he couldn’t, refused to, change then she had to let him go.

What did the Dark Mark mean to him.

And what did they mean to him.

It was the time for answers, the confrontation a necessary pain, and she was as ready as she would ever be. Now she could only believe in the person she had come to know.

She heard the door handle turning and raised her head, she observed him as he entered, looking dejected, clearly the day had not been good and it made her hesitate for a moment, but she reminded herself that she couldn’t spend her life with someone she couldn’t trust.

While he put away his jacket, she took a deep breath.

“Welcome back” she raised from the couch to stand in front of him.

Draco was surprised but smirked “No more silent treatment?”

“It wasn’t working” she shrugged.

“Of course it wasn’t working,” he laughed “if you want to drive me away you need to be more creative Weasley”

His smile fell when she didn’t answer, she just continued to look at him, her intense stare made him uncomfortable, she seemed to be trying to look into his very soul but it also begged for something he couldn’t quite understand.

“We need to talk,” she told him.

His mouth went dry but he tried to ignore it “That almost makes us sound like a couple, Weasley”

He tried to move past her but she prevented him, now glaring, her expression more dangerous.

“Stop joking about it!” she said.

It was his time to glare “I thought you’d find it familiar, it’s what your brothers, the twins' ones, did all the time, no?”

“Don’t bring my family into this,” Ginny crossed her arms, their battle of will had truly started now “you’re only trying to avoid this.”

“Avoid what? Your senseless questions?”

Draco hated that the real reason was that he felt like crumbling, his whole past was put into question and he didn’t like it, he felt too vulnerable, too out of control, if he was stripped of that part of him...

Then who was he supposed to be?

“Senseless? Do you hear yourself?” she felt the anger bubbling inside her “Why can’t we just talk?!”

“Why should we talk? I thought we began this on a very simple understanding,” he told her “We don’t like each other, we don’t have to like each other and that was it”

She let a sound of astonishment “Is this really all that you think this is?”

“What more should it be?” he exclaimed, “I already told you, we are not a family!”

So instead he lashed out against her, and she gave the same back, blinding rage from both of them as they tried to stand on shaky middle ground.

“I. am. trying,” she said, her voice low, ready to implode “To understand you, why can’t you think of someone else for once?”

“People are, generally, a disappointment,” he told her simply.

“That’s it? You just don’t care?” she asked him, incredulous “What about your friends? Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy?”

Draco sneered “As if, Crabbe would betray me the first chance he gets, Goyle just wouldn’t do it because he is too stupid to try” he looked her “And Pansy was always there for the money”

His eyes were cold as he stared at her, his presence shifted with that menacing look, the air around them even felt thicker. She knew Draco looked like Lucius but never before that moment had she truly felt it. She didn’t think Draco would hurt her but the similarities were just too overwhelming in that moment

It made her take a step back.

Draco noticed, of course, and something about it hurt him deeper than he thought, he didn’t want for Ginny to be afraid of him or to hide away again, he wanted to reach out and ask her to forgive him.

“Why would live like that?” she asked, her eyes wide open.

His confidence had left him, leaving the fear to control him instead.

“Because it was the right thing to do,” he told her, his arms at his side “It’s what my father always told me, I would always have people trying to use me, might as well use them instead”

Ginny couldn’t believe a father would teach a child to just use people, to just leave that child lonely and feeling that they couldn’t trust anyone, Draco had walked the halls of Hogwarts like he owned it but all this time he had kept a distance from anyone that could care, afraid of being played.

“That’s so twisted!” she said, getting closer “He should have never made you feel like that”

....

...

..

.

.

.

.

.

Draco felt something in him break.

Seeing his doubts reflect on Ginny’s words seemed to touch on that part of him that he’d always avoided.

It reached inside and tore him apart.

“What are you talking about?”

Ginny frowned as she observed Draco, his face was now covered by his hair, shadows making it impossible to tell what he was thinking, he had just whispered but the tension at that moment was oppressive.

“My father, twisted?” his voice was low.

Ginny tried to reach him but he stepped away from her.

“You don’t know anything...” he raised his head, eyes like a hurt animal.

But Ginny wouldn’t stand down “You think you are the only one hurt? Think again.” No, she _had_ to make him understand. “People got hurt because of your father’s actions,” she told him, staring into his grey eyes “From the very beginning! He’s a liar, he manipulates people because he can! Never caring about the consequences or who could be hurt because of him!”

“He’s better than all of them!” Draco screamed, still backing away from her.

“And,” Ginny said, her words leaving him bleeding “People got hurt because of you”

Draco stopped.

“Can you say that you just don’t care about what happened to Katie and to Ron or to the people that came to fight the Death Eater that YOU let into the school?”

He was still trying to hold onto the past and with a strangled voice he told her “I had to! It was my mission --”

“For Voldemort!” she raised her voice “You had to, for Voldemort”

His voice failed and she continued “Voldemort hurts every person he gets close to, he uses people for fun and doesn’t hesitate to hurt everyone, he doesn’t care for anyone other than himself, can you really tell me that you wanted to be part of his plans?”

“I--... I--”

Draco tried to say, to tell her _anything_ , to agree or to refuse. To agree. To refuse. To agree? To refuse? His head hurt as he struggled to make sense of his confused feelings.

Defeated he whispered.

“I can’t be more than what I am Weasley...”

He didn’t take his jacket, he didn’t look at her or Harry, he just left her, went past her leaving her standing in place, and opened the door in a rush to get away.

Ginny stared at the place he was just a moment before, she just couldn’t believe he left, for a moment she thought that she had seen the person inside, the hurting, fearful, bleeding boy that she glanced at on that day they came into the past, when he had looked so lost and empty, still bearing the marks of what doing Voldemort biddings did to him.

Wasn’t this his choice then? To leave them?

“Daa!”

She turned and saw that Harry had crawled to the door, he stared at the door and again asked “Daa?” but when Draco didn’t appear his eyes watered and soon he was crying.

She picked Harry and held onto the toddler, trying to soothe him.

“We don’t need him, Harry, you’ll see”

Ginny barely noticed her own tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta say, this turned out actually better than I had planned :D  
> The original version in my mind was a lot more them hurting each other, but this with Ginny confronting Draco feels way rawer and leads better into Draco running away.  
> It even made ME sad XD Hope you like it anyway!


	12. Room of Broken Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to Sins of my Youth by the Neon Trees for this chapter ;)

Draco ran, as far from the flat as he could, his lungs felt like burning but he refused to stop.

He had crumbled, he always knew they would’ve had to talk sooner or later and he was left in pieces by the end of it.

Ginny had opened the parts of him that he had buried so deep he had forgotten they were there and he had felt too open, too exposed and she saw that, bringing up every one by force.

And now he wondered if he had anything left in him at all.

The worst of him was now on the surface and nothing between himself and his past.

It was her voice that spoke to him, reminding him of everything he had done, every terrible comment, every hurtful wish, and of everyone he had hurt, could feel what being superior meant to him back then but it wasn’t her voice anymore.

I was his father’s.

His father telling him that his grades weren’t enough, that his lack of achievements was unacceptable, that he had to be better, that a Malfoy was always the best, never proud or happy. He had lashed out then, of course he did, but at who was that directed?

At the people he had insulted or the father he had been too starstruck to confront.

_It was summer, he was 7 again and he couldn’t keep still._

_His father had told him that his friends would bring their kids and that they could play all day as they talked in the parlour, as long as the boys didn’t disturb them. And he had been excited ever since._

_He had met the children of his father’s friend and associates before, but up until that point all those meetings had been in very formal settings, not much chance of playing if he wanted his father to be proud. Playing with his mother was okay but she often had to leave to some social meeting or another, he had no siblings and after the third time, tormenting house-elves just wasn’t fun anymore._

_He thought that day would be the best._

_“Draco,” his father said introducing the two boys to him “Is Vincent Crabbe and this is Gregory Goyle”_

_He stared at the two boys, both much bigger than him, it was intimidating at first but the thought of playtime made him smile at the two instead and they gave him hesitant ones back._

_“Good, I will return when it’s time for you two to leave,” Lucius told the three before walking back into the manor._

_“So what do you want to play?” he asked, excited._

_But the other two just looked at each other before shrugging, Draco had been curious but thought that maybe they were shy and choose a game for them all._

_It was fun to play hide and seek with more people and winning thrice had turned his day even better. He won the second game too, although he noticed that the behaviour of the two had been very strange, it always seemed too easy, he had a more difficult time playing with his mum and it was his mother! By the third game, he was sure they were letting him win._

_A house-elf brought them some snacks but Draco didn’t get to eat much, the boys had dived into the tray before he even thought about it, he barely managed to grab a biscuit before it was all gone, it did nothing for his humour, he even refused a second tray of biscuits, dismissing the elf._

_Crabbe and Goyle finished eating the biscuits while talking to each other, Draco wasn’t even sure how, but being left out turned him even sourer._

_When they let him win again he just couldn’t bear it anymore._

_“What are you doing?! You’re not even trying!”_

_They looked at each other and Crabbe decided to finally talk “Our dads said we had to keep you happy, that you couldn’t get mad at us.”_

_Draco turned his head in confusion, wasn’t keeping him happy the job of the house-elves? They were purebloods, as his father always told him, and purebloods were better than elves, no? Why couldn’t they just play?_

_“Well, I am mad,” he told them “We should do something else”_

_But the day continued the same way, with them letting him win every time, it felt no different than when he played alone and by the time his father arrived, he was even glad that they wouldn’t stay any longer._

_His father observed his pout and asked: “Was it not fun Draco?”_

_The boy struggled with what to say so he tried “It was okay, I won every time”_

_Lucius nodded “Then they did their job” no congratulations, not even a smile “From now on I want to make this boys your protectors, not much brain but they are like their fathers and have enough strength to make up for it”_

_“Can’t they just be my friends?” he asked, his fun day long gone._

_“If that’s what you want to call them,” Lucius said, but it was clear from him tone that he was displeased “You need to remember Draco, you are my son, people will always try to use you for what you have, you need to be more cunning than all of them, they should be the ones being played”_

_He nodded and tried to convince himself that the day had been better than it was, after all, his father would never lie to him._

Draco felt his legs give away and he fell into the dirt.

His clothes were cheap now and ripped when he fell, the rough ground reaching his skin, a throbbing sting in the back of his mind as he cried.

_But he lied,_ he thought, not knowing what to do anymore _He lied from the beginning_.

It hurt to look back and see all those moments in a new light, to see every mistake, every action, every fault in his father, the one person that should’ve protected him, above anything else, that is what Lucius should have done and what now Draco wanted desperately. Safety. Trust.

But his father had chosen power, leaving Draco alone to deal with _his_ consequences, from _his_ action, alone with no choice of his own, clinging to the promises of an ideal he didn’t know he could believe any longer.

His father had filled him with hatred, telling him that it was all he could be, he had followed his father’s words, been the best an heir could be, even being marked by a madman for him and it had only left him empty, struggling for air in front of a cabinet, alone in a room full of broken things.

There was no façade to hide behind anymore, he didn’t have anything of his past to hold on to, a father he couldn’t believe anymore, a mother that didn’t know about him, tears falling uselessly to the ground.

_How deep does the hurt go Father?_

The night was falling on him, his shadows disappearing as he let the tears wash away his bleeding heart. He laid down on the ground, staring into the nothing and letting his body get used to the emptiness.

Ginny’s voice came back, the nothing feeling just slightly less overwhelming.

_“Can you really tell me that you wanted to be part of his plans?”_

No, he didn’t, maybe at some point, he had believed that he could prove himself that way but he noticed all too soon that he had been nothing more than an easy pawn to sacrifice as punishment to his father, he hated Voldemort and would gladly see him gone. Was that what she wanted of him? For him to denounce Voldemort? Maybe she thought that him refusing the man meant that he was more than what he used to be.

A better person.

But he could only be one person, lying on the ground, covered in dirt and hurt in his knees and hands, he wondered what that meant.

How had she ever trust him in the first place? She had looked at him that night when they arrived and sat down by his side, speaking to him when she had every reason to just curse him, he didn’t really had the strength to fight back anyway, instead, she had asked him to follow her, asked if she could trust him. She probably felt terribly betrayed at that moment, he had left her alone, with no explanation, no reassurance that he would be back.

The idea that she now thought he wouldn’t come back pained him.

Ginny had let him in so easy, he didn’t think she noticed, even as she refused to look too closely at the wounds from the night in the tower, she still laughed with him, when she turned away from him, it was as if he had lost something important.

He remembered the day before, how simple it had been, to be a family with her.

He wanted that, to be near someone that just wanted to be close to him, he wanted to see more of her, know more, talk more, laugh more.

Maybe, just maybe, if he reached out to her, he could have that.

The three of them.

_I am going mad_ , he laughed at himself.

Because Draco was going back to Ginny.

He pushed himself off the ground, trying to remove some of the dirt from his clothes, and began the journey back home

He still had a family and he wasn’t in a room of broken things anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this wasn't too fast :/ I just didn't felt that he would stay away longer than this, and I did try to hint to his ultimate realization before... I hope it's just the anxiety talking :)  
> Hey, anyone else saw sugar sugar rune as a child? No? Just me? No, it's just that the protagonists are very Drinny-esque and I kept envisioning the scene of Draco falling like this one scene of Pierre (the ml) falling after attacking some important witches. No, I don't know what you should with the information either. (p.s: if anyone is interested, watch the beginning of the anime and the ending of the manga, it's better that way)


	13. We Can Start Now

The door opened and Ginny jumped, turning to look at him.

“You are back,” she said, her voice low and hoarse.

Draco saw how she withdrew into herself, hands around her arms, she had cried and her eyes were still red, giving her a sickly look, her stare was distrustful and she was readying herself for a confrontation.

He took a step inside the flat, looking deeply into her eyes, hoping that she would understand.

“I’m sorry...”

****

Ginny’s eyes widened, completely unprepared for that, she had expected for him to tell her he was back to take his clothes and that he wouldn’t stay long, not this.

She didn’t know what to say and it didn’t help that he was just staring at her, silver eyes much softer than before, searching for her answer.

“Daa!” cried out Harry and Draco looked away from her to reach him instead, she considered stopping him, what right did he have to come back? But seeing how the baby buried his face into Draco’s shirt, holding tight while Draco whispered softly, she couldn’t help but soften.

Ginny hadn’t been ready for this Draco, he left them for hours, stuck in that small flat not sure where she’d go from there and then he came back, soft voice, tentative approach, and his eyes, she always thought that grey eyes were just a different shade of blue, his eyes had always been a dark silver and she never paid more attention than that but somehow, at that moment, they were a clear and bright grey she couldn’t see how she’d ever thought they could be blue, like the moment after a storm, when the world seems to be made of light.

So many feelings were hitting her all at once, she wanted to scream at him, she wanted to accept his apology, she felt so hurt but that longing was still there, was it stupid of her to want their family again so easily? Ginny tried to raise her shields, willing to at least listen to what he had to say, refusing to be hurt again.

“I know I shouldn’t have left,” he said, turning to her again.

“Good!” she told him harshly.

Draco had enough sense and had been humbled enough by his fall to know that he deserved it.

“What brought this change of heart?” she asked, trying to feign nonchalance.

“You were right,” he told her, watching as she dropped any pretense of not caring “About my father, you were right”

If anything that was even more surprising, Malfoy admitting to being wrong? Admitting that _she_ was right? Was she sure it wasn’t someone else?

He grimaced and turned away from her eyes as he continued “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and the more I thought about it, the worse everything he did seemed to me, he had promised me a world with us on top, where everything would be as I wished” he took a deep breath “I know that to you this is a terrible wish to have, but I believed it was what I wanted too, that it was what it was supposed to be.”

He took a step forward “But my father is a liar, and I realized too late that he lied to me too”

Ginny stood her ground, even as he got closer, even as her heartbeat overwhelmed her, this seemed the moment she’d be waiting for, the moment they could stand in front of each other and find their own place, no secrets or buried feelings.

She looked at him, eyes wide as she took in his words “Then why did you defend him before?”

“Because I didn’t want to believe it, he is my father after all, I wanted to believe in him and I wanted to believe that who I was, was right” Draco looked back to her “Have you ever wanted to believe in someone that even when you realize how wrong they are, you can’t help but hope that it couldn’t be just that the end?”

Of course Ginny knew that feeling, and she could still feel the cold of being left on the ground for that.

“I can’t believe in my father anymore” he finished, hoping that he hadn’t done some irreparable damage.

“I need to be able to trust you” she bit her lip, dropping her shields, if he hurt her now, she wasn’t sure what she would do, “Can... can you tell me about that year?”

Draco felt warmth rushing back to him, she was still willing to reach out, and this time he would reach back.

“What do you want to know?” he asked her and Ginny felt like she could breathe easier now.

“Why did you join him?” that was the most important to her at the moment, the truth about the mark on his arm.

“I can’t tell you that I never wanted this” he began, being more truthful with her than with anyone else in his life before “There was a time when this seemed like the highest achievement I would get, as a child my father spoke of the Dark Lord as our best chance of getting rid of mud-... _muggle-borns_.”

She could help but smile at his slip, they still had a long journey ahead, but him trying at all told her everything she needed to know. Draco could change, and he wanted to.

“When the Dark Lord came back my father said that our time had arrived and I took pride in that and when my father fell, I was chosen for a mission above all others” his voice slowly filling with dread “I was so... _proud_ ” Draco looked at the ceiling, eyes glazed as he reminisced, his expression a grimace “I was important enough to be marked and assigned a mission when no one else thought I was worth much”

His stare fell, as if the weight from back then still haunted him “When I was told I had to kill Dumbledore, I realized, I--, _still_ , wanted to believe but it was then that the hell began” he sighed “But I couldn’t escape, not when they told me it was the only way to get my father back”

“You could have told us!” Ginny tried to convince him but he only gave her a tired smile.

“I didn’t trust any of you” he explained, even if it annoyed her “As insufferably righteous as your lot is, there were too many gaps, Snape was a traitor and I am sixteen, more powerful wizard than I tried to hide from him, only to turn up dead not too long after”

She wanted to tell him that it wasn’t right, but she couldn’t deny that if their situation was reversed she wouldn’t have gone to him for help either, it stung and, while different, it was easier to see why he had refused to change before.

“And about Katie and Ron?” she asked, Ginny thought that maybe it was redundant but at this point, she just wanted to hear it directly, to truly see the bad, the good, and everything in between.

“He would have killed me, my whole family, I did what I did because of fear, I didn’t want to hurt them, not even your brother” Draco answered, there was a time when he’d gladly see Ron Weasley hurt but he wasn’t a killer and those feelings felt distant, he wanted more than what he used to be “I just wanted to be stopped by that point, I didn’t even realize that was what I wanted, but I couldn’t, not if I wanted to live”

Ginny tried to think about what she would do if her family was threatened and had to admit that the answer was _Basically Everything_. She couldn’t really blame him for that.

Draco could imagine what Ginny was thinking and rushed to clarify, he had to be completely honest with the both of them "I can't be more than I am" he began "I don't particularly like muggles but I see that there is more than what I was taught, I'm not a bastion of goodness and courage, I like winning, I'm a sore loser, I don't like cramped spaces and cheap things, I think that cunning and smart are one and the same and I will always believe Slytherin is better than Gryffindor" that made her laugh, leave it to him to bring that up.

"I can't change who I was and I won't ever be the perfect hero" she looked at him, she couldn’t even pretend not to be smiling, she never expected that Malfoy of all people would make her feel like this. "If you can trust me, even with all of this, Weasley--"

Ginny would admit, even just to herself, that she wouldn't have him any other way.

They were still figuring life out but it was their beginning.

“I think you should call me Ginny now,” she told him laughing, the pain and longing from before slowly leaving.

“Then you should call me Draco,” he told her with a smile of his own before adding a worried “Never call me David away from the muggles.”

He didn’t even mind that she was laughing at him, somehow, she didn’t bother him much.

“Draco,” she tried, still feeling a bit awkward “Well, this will take some getting used to”

“I suppose it is a start”

They were such an unlikely pair, she never would have guessed before.

Ginny thought, looking at them, she in cheap clothes and puffy eyes, he in dirty, ripped clothes with cuts and bruises, and with Harry, it made them three, but she was happy anyway. There was no denying their family. They weren’t perfect, and still had much to learn.

But they could start now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Receiving positive feedback is amazing but also incredibly scary XD This chapter felt fairly okay when I wrote it but after reading the (great) comments of the previous chapter I kept thinking that this won't be as good, I even added some more scenes just in case ^-^' (I suppose I can always change it, one of the great benefits of fanfiction)  
> But I hope it isn't disappointing! See you next chapter that is... not what you are expecting?


	14. Meanwhile

Narcissa hummed as she rocked Draco, the toddler slowly getting sleepier. She ran her hands through his blond curls, smiling as she held him. But Draco jolted when the doors opened roughly, the sound scaring him.

“This is ridiculous!” Lucius stormed into the room, face contorted in anger as he began to pace.

Narcissa glared at him, now having to calm the child “You need to be silent, he was about to sleep”

Lucius turned to her, eyebrow raised “Why don’t you leave that to the elves? It would be easier”

“I don’t trust others to put him to sleep” she answered before turning to Draco and cooing “He needs his Mama”

“He doesn’t need you, you just want to coddle him,” he told her, his tone clearly amused by his wife.

“It’s a mother’s duty” she smiled, unapologetic. “What annoyed you, that you had to come to interrupt our time?”

That reminded him and his expression went back to the angry one he entered the room with.

“They want more money” he explained, wondering if there was anything nearby that he could curse.

“Who?” Narcissa asked, many people wanted their money, it wasn’t a brief list.

“The Ministry” Lucius snarled, “They say that due to some of the events of this year, I would need to double my _contributes_ to our society”

“It’s about Bellatrix” she sighed, the trials hadn’t been pretty, and several times when going out with Draco she’d heard the whispers about her sister.

“Oh, and let’s not forget dear old Sirius” Lucius said sarcastically “Can’t believe he fooled us all with his sanctimonious act”

Narcissa frowned “I still don’t think he did anything they said,” she said with calm, an old conversation they had “Sirius was always different from the rest of us”

“Doesn’t matter” he said “I wouldn’t speak for him either way”

Narcissa bit her lip at that, she sometimes thought about it, she was sure Sirius was not a Death Eater as they claimed and Azkaban was just about the worst place she could imagine but she didn’t think she’d be able to speak for him. From a very young age she’d been thought that family was the most important thing, to put above everything else and Sirius had refused them, ran away, and distanced himself from family. The resentment had festered in her ever since.

Family was all that mattered in the end.

“And because they just had to be caught,” Lucius said a little too loud so she shot him a dirty look again “Suspicion fell onto us again and if I’m not... _generous_ , they will look into my case again”

“It’s really not that much,” she said, readjusting Draco in her arms “We have more than enough”

Lucius, however, shook his head “It’s not about how much I have, It’s about the disrespect, that first contribution should have been enough”

“You know it won’t” she stressed “But it’s necessary for our family, surely that is the most important”

Lucius turned, his face impossible to read, and got closer looking at her and Draco before gently caressing the baby’s head.

“You are right” he smiled “Everything is for my son, the entire world even”

“You have too many expectations, Lucius,” she told him albeit with a smile “He is just a baby”

The man shrugged and she laughed “Should start soon so when he starts his magical teachings he shall be the best of his year”

“His magical teachings,” Narcissa said “At Hogwarts”

Lucius let out a laugh “Really no chance for Durmstrang, huh?”

“No!”

Narcissa put the now sleeping Draco in his crib, and took a moment to observe her son, one hand clutching his toys, pink cheeks, and rosy lips, white-blond hair shining in the moonlight, he almost seemed a ghost, she always stayed a little longer just to watch how his chest would rise and lower, every breath reassuring her that he wouldn’t disappear in the night.

She would leave a house-elf in the room just to make sure.

She then rejoined her husband in the nearby parlour, he was still tense, possibly thinking about how to make the Ministry get off his case once and for all.

“Maybe we should go away for a while,” she told him, her arms around his waist “Let it die before resuming our lives”

“We would be away from the public,” he conceded “But I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on those that would enjoy seeing us fall now”

It reminded her too much on how little he trusted anyone, if they had someone to rely on, they would be able to just spend time as a family but they were stuck playing games to stay on top, Lucius focused too much on them, staying away from her and Draco almost all day, sometimes she wouldn’t even know he’d come back at night if the house-elves didn’t tell her. She hoped it would go by soon and that they would be able to just enjoy their time.

“If only _He_ hadn’t disappeared” Lucius whispered.

That thinking was what led her sister to be imprisoned and she never wanted to see Lucius end up there, so instead, she let go of him, now glaring “Don’t you dare think about it now, it won’t help any of us!”

“But it’s true! The Dark Lord had no true rivals, if he was still in power we would have been the first to be rewarded!” he said, as he had many times “If it wasn’t for that Potter, they can’t even find the brat--”

“True or not,” she told him, refusing to let him fall to the same rationale as Bellatrix “It doesn’t matter! All we are to do now is look as the upstanding members of society that we are and not let anyone have any reason to look too deep”

Lucius sneered “That Arthur Weasley looks too deep, that blood traitor is in love with muggles,” he said rolling his eyes “Heard his wife had another child, a girl this time, I don’t know why he insists, it’s not like he has the money to pay for them”

Narcissa let a bittersweet smile at that.

Noticing the change he tried to backtrack “Narcissa, you know--”

She smiled, anger leaving her “I’m okay,” she said gently “I am satisfied with only Draco, truly, I am”

He stroked her cheeks nonetheless and Narcissa let him console her.

“And besides, one day I will be able to be the grandmother to Draco’s children,” she said and then added jokingly “I will bother him until he gives me at least two to coddle”

“I already feel bad for him” he answered with a smile “You can be terribly persistent”

She smiled proudly.

At times like these Narcissa wondered what the future looked like, would Draco be more like her or like Lucius, what would he enjoy and what would he hate, what person he would be and what he would do.

But they had all the time to discover what was ahead, so she would enjoy their time as it arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahah, it's so weird writing about Draco the baby after all the emotions I wrote for older Draco XD  
> Anyway, originally I had envisioned that there wouldn't be much talk about what is happening in the wizarding world, a literal representation of Ginny and Draco's disconnect, but I kept thinking about the fact that after Lucius's "oh, I'm totally innocent, here's a bag of money to prove it" the fact that Sirius and Bellatrix went to prison was probably a very complicated time for the Malfoys. (Hope that Lucius didn't sound too kind, I have conflicting ideas on how to end his part of the story and I don't think that he would be evil to his family, just highly critical and unknowingly damaging! But evil was reserved for everyone else)  
> (By all accounts Narcissa is not a good person, she is as prejudiced as Lucius too... but I just love her, so *shrugs*)  
> Next chapter wil probably be more filler (I may or may not change the order) and then a chapter that has been stuck in my head for ages!


	15. Family

It wasn’t unusual for Draco to be the first to wake up, it gave him time to think and that morning he took his time to observe the two people in front of him.

Harry usually slept clutching his star, but that night he held onto Draco’s shirt and had refused to let go, his small hand still holding him now. It was strange to see such a small child cling to him, to feel how afraid said child was to lose him and realize that he didn’t want to let go either.

And Ginny, the morning sun colouring her in shades of gold, he couldn’t believe she had accepted him, that she forgave him. Draco supposed that it came easier for her, that she had no idea what it meant to him, but if he was allowed one secret, that was one he didn’t want to reveal just yet.

Someone he could trust, people he didn’t want to leave.

He truly felt they were a family now.

“Are you just going to stare?” Ginny asked him, her eyes still closed.

“Why? Hoping for more?” he asked, voice low.

Ginny opened her eyes, mischief shining as the sun hit them, turning their color to honey.

“You wish” she answered.

Draco smiled and she smiled back, just enjoying their calm.

“The cuts still hurt?” she asked then, her voice more gentle now.

“The one on my knee still do” he tried to shrug, but being on his side he could only do one shoulder.

Ginny nodded before sitting on the bed and stretching.

“Put Harry on the couch, I will get something for your knee,” she told him and when he nodded she got up and left the room. Draco gently picked Harry from his place and carried him to the living room, so he could sleep longer where they could see him.

Ginny then returned, in one hand, some sort of paste now in one of their bowls and in the other bandages. She sat in front of him, laying the bandages at her side, her free hand now reaching into the bowl and smearing the paste on his cut knee.

He had expected some form of burning but instead, it was all very soothing.

“How did you learn this?” he asked while she now took the bandages and put them around his leg.

“It’s not as efficient as it could if we had the ingredients from Diagon Alley” she began while tying the bandages “But I got hurt frequently as a child, and my mum would do this for me, I learned how to make it so I wouldn’t have to ask when I got hurt sneaking to steal my brothers' brooms”

Draco laughed, the image surprisingly vivid in his mind of a young Ginny falling but stubbornly refusing to tell anyone. However, he was distracted when Harry shifted on the couch, reaching for Draco, so he obliged and let the toddler grab his hand.

Sitting on the arm of the couch at his side, she reflected, her eyes now dispirited “He really misses them, his parents.”

“How much does he remember?” Draco asked then, it was something he never thought about before.

Ginny gave him a pained smile “Nothing, but I suppose some scars are not as easily seen.”

Draco looked back at Harry, realizing then that the arm he was holding was his left one, so close to the symbol of the person that caused him all that pain. He felt the shame rise.

“And my father played a part in this” the betrayal he could now see, and his growing attachment to the family they created, it all combined inside of him, bringing back the shame for his part in that world.

Ginny reached for his free hand, her eyes were still downcast but her smile was more sincere and full than before “This is why we do all of this, for something better than we had before.”

Then he did something she didn’t expect.

He kissed her hand.

“Thank you,” he said, and again his eyes reminded her of light, “Ginevra.”

Ginny couldn’t help but laugh, Draco raised his eyebrow at that but his smile told that he was amused rather than annoyed.

“Sorry, it’s just, no one calls me Ginevra” she explained, “It’s old and stiff, just Ginny is fine”

“I like it, It has noble sound to it,” he told her and shrugged, not seeing why she wouldn’t like it.

“Of course you would, mister born with a silver spoon in your mouth” she joked and was happy when he laughed.

Glad that the gloom was gone, glad that they could joke together now.

“I think we should go out tonight,” Ginny said “Have fun for once”

“Do you think it’s safe?” Draco asked, looking to Harry.

“We have been so careful all this time,” she told him, sitting on the couch with him and crossing her legs, “We haven’t seen aurors in months either and after all that happened, I think we should do something instead of just leaving to go to the store”

Draco thought about it, on one hand, Ginny was right that they hadn’t seen aurors, they could very well have stopped the search, the times right after the Dark Lord fall had been tumultuous at best and they were all focused on the Death Eaters, Harry could possibly be safe from the Ministry, but on the other hand, if they met another witch or wizard he wasn’t sure if they would be completely safe.

He wanted to be out of the flat even for one hour, hating feeling cramped up, and he knew Ginny and Harry felt the same, could they risk it for one night?

“I think,” he began but looking back at Ginny, her hopeful eyes, he sighed “Sure”

Her enthusiasm was contagious and when night arrived again, even Draco couldn’t help but be excited.

It was the first time they looked around and truly took in the city, appreciating the night lights and the carefree energy of the people still outside. It was truly a beautiful night.

“See,” Ginny said, head up and beaming “it was a good idea.”

Draco shook his head, not even hiding his smile “I suppose it isn’t so bad.”

Harry squirmed in his arms so he put him on the ground, holding his hands as the toddler moved around, an amused Ginny looking over them. Then she saw.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “They are selling waffles over there.”

Harry was very happy to follow her, dragging Draco with him so they could look expectantly at him while he ordered.

“Two, please”

“You don’t want one?” Ginny asked, picking hers and holding the other for Harry.

“We don’t have much money” Draco shrugged.

They sat down on a bench not too far, where they could still watch the nightlife but also see the sky.

“That’s fine, we can just share,” she said, looking at hers and splitting it in two.

“Why would you? It’s yours” the way he said that, so sincerely confused, had Ginny laughing, incredulous she didn’t see these little things before.

“Ah! Being an only child,” she said, exaggerating her tone “Never having to share food with annoying siblings.”

Smiling he took the other half “Yeah, it was a great perk.”

“We did this all the time, sometimes I even had to hide my snacks from the others,” Draco observed as she told him more about her childhood, the faint smile as she reminisced.

“You also miss your family,” he said, they hadn’t spoken much about that, something they just knew instead, but it hadn’t hit him as much as it did while looking at her now.

“A lot,” she said gently, her smile illuminated by the city lights, deciding to ask something she’d been wondering for a while “Don’t you?”

“I miss my mother,” he began, his eyes shifting to the sky “Is it... Is it bad that I even miss my father?”

“His actions are not your fault, only your own, and you-”

Ginny looked at him, the night making her eyes so dark he could barely see the brown, and yet, it wasn’t a bad thing, it reminded him of the calm and warmth of nights like that.

“You did something he never did, you decided to change”

He couldn’t understand what was it about Ginny that she could just see into him so easily, and even believe that there was more there, a trust he never wanted to break again.

Ginny took his hand “It will always hurt, despite who he was, Lucius was your father, your family.”

He had something more now, something stronger than the hurt.

“You two are my family now.”

Draco told her, no mocking smile, no joke, it left her speechless.

He always seemed to surprise her, even as they just sat there, just looking at each other, she was glad they were in this together, with nothing more to hide.

“Mama! Daa!” Harry requested their attention, face completely dirty, and they laughed, continuing their night walk, as Ginny said before, just having fun for once.

They were moving on and the past hurt a little less every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually not originally here, or anywhere really. The next chapter was supposed to be here but I realized that I just didn't like that chapter as a follow up to the previous ones, and knew I wouldn't be content with it if I didn't have one before it, actually dealing with the day after their fight, I can't tell if it's any good but I just feel better having it here.  
> I'm a sucker for hand kisses, sorry if you felt it was out of place XD
> 
> p.s: I don't always answer the comments but just to let you know they are all very appreciated, you people are lovely!!!


	16. Learning to Cook

It had been a few days since their truce and adapting to their new dynamic had been quite strange, but not altogether unpleasant, Draco definitely enjoyed having Ginny being open and fun again, and Ginny had to admit that she enjoyed Draco’s humour when he wasn’t being malicious.

It was slow and years of beliefs were hard to get over but finding their common ground was a journey they didn’t expect to have fun walking together.

Harry, too, was very enthusiastic, he was starting to walk alone and they would often leave him in front of the couch only to find him holding on to a cabinet on the other side, he also liked to coax Draco into holding him while he walked, leading to the boy later complaining about a hurting back.

“You sound like an old man” Ginny laughed at him as he glared at her from the couch, having decided to lie down and nurse his aching body.

“I feel like an old man” he answered and buried his face into the furniture.

Harry then crawled towards Draco and raising himself he extended his hand towards Draco in an approximation of a soothing motion and beamed when a mollified Draco stroked his head.

Ginny would also take time to teach Harry about shapes and sounds, his most used words were still “Daa” and “Mama” but more and more things had begun to have their own words, he was learning fast as his second birthday approached. Draco would often look at them during their lesson’s times, Ginny always seemed so happy, it made him wonder if she would have followed that path, had they not been taken away from their own time. As it was, he simply enjoyed their expressions, calmer than he’d been in a long time.

That day at the end of April, Ginny decided on something.

“I’m going to teach you to cook!” she told Draco and he stared at her blankly.

“That is going to be a disaster” he answered.

“No it’s not!” she tried to reason with his pessimistic expectations “We can just make something very simple!”

“Nothing about it is simple,” he said, eyebrow raised “This is the first kitchen I ever saw”

That made Ginny laugh, Draco was such a spoilt boy, it was even endearing now that he was trying to change. He stared at her, arms crossed and she forced herself to stop laughing “Sorry,” she smiled “But you’ll see, we’ll make something that Harry can eat too, so it won’t be anything too complicated”

He still looked skeptic but agreed, he really needed to learn, he couldn’t go without food just because Ginny wasn’t there as it had been before.

Ginny beamed “I’m going to get Harry!”

Draco sighed “Salazar give me strength”

Ready to face his enemy, the muggle store, he went to get his shoes.

“I still don’t like this place,” he told her succinctly. Ginny just laughed as she placed Harry inside the carts’ seat.

She then picked her grocery list “We already have some of these, so, we’ll need a muffin tin,” Ginny said, and indicated one of the aisles “Olive oil, maple syrup, broccoli, eggs, and milk”

“None of those go together,” he said, looking at her dubiously “What are you even planning on making?”

Ginny beamed “Macaroni cheese and carrot muffins!”

It still didn’t sound very appetizing to Draco but by the way Ginny was looking so pleased with herself, he decided to just go along with it.

Draco considered it a blessing that they didn’t have many things to buy, so they just walked along the aisle picking the less expensive ones, a calm conversation about their favorite Quidditch teams from before, he had expected that she would like the Cannons as her brother had but she explained soon enough, she was so passionate about it and the way she talked about the Harpies even made him agree on some points.

“I will need to ask my team forgiveness later” he sighed after she tricked him into admitting that the Harpies had the superior chasers.

“Ha!” Ginny exclaimed, “I knew it!”

He rolled his eyes, albeit with an air of fun rather than annoyance “Did you want to be an instructor before?”

“Huh?”

Draco shrugged “You seem to like teaching Harry and you clearly love Quidditch, so I thought maybe that was what you wanted”

Ginny smiled but it was a small, one of resignation “I wanted to be a chaser too”

He understood the feeling, as long as they were hiding they were unable to follow on any aspiration from before, and Draco knew that to Ginny it was worse, back then he didn’t have any expectation of anything besides inheriting the family businesses, but Ginny had every option ahead.

She noticed him looking and gave him a more sincere smile “I will say, teaching Harry was a lot more fun than I expected”

“You could look into it, being a teacher,” he told her “We’ll test your abilities when you try teaching me”

Ginny shook her head and laughed.

But she had to admit that his idea didn’t sound too bad.

“I’ll pick the tin, be right back,” Ginny told him before turning towards another aisle further away.

Draco looked at her go when Harry called his attention “Daa! Up!”

He picked Harry from the cart seat but the toddler struggled so he just decided to put Harry down, he would usually be holding both of Harry's arms when they were outside but when he tried to hold the other hand the child complained, having decided to walk on his own.

For the most part.

He still held firm onto one of Draco's hands.

"Huh? Want to appear tough?" he joked to the child, not that he was paying attention, choosing to look around the store instead.

Juggling the child and the cart wasn’t easy and he had to apologize to the people he would hit on the way, some just moved on and some glared at him as continued to follow Harry.

Draco gave a half-smile when he realized what Harry had spotted was the toy aisle, he thought about stopping the child but they had some money left, if it wasn’t anything too expensive then maybe Harry could finally have something that wasn’t that blasted star.

They looked around for a while and Draco paled at some of those prices, if Harry fixated on any of those they would have to deal with an upset toddler on their way back.

When Harry saw what he wanted, however, Draco could take a breath of relief, Harry kept trying to reach a plush toy car and when he went to look at the price it was just the right price.

"Do you want it?" he asked and Harry nodded, green eyes shining "I suppose we can buy it this time"

And picked it from the shelf and put it on the cart.

Smiling, the toddler asked to be picked up again, now settling happily on his hip.

“I’ve been looking for you two,” Ginny said as she arrived, tin in hand.

“Can we leave?!” Draco asked, a bit too hopeful.

Ginny decided to ease his pain and nod, they were indeed done with shopping. And she took the cart too, just for good measure, she’d heard a few people complaining about the boy that could hold his cart properly before.

Ginny opened the door, letting Draco and Harry in, the two settled on the couch as Draco opened the toy box for the child. She went to close the door when she noticed a letter.

Looking over the letter it was clearly a muggle one, she didn’t think that anyone would send them one but when Ginny realized, she beamed.

“Mrs. Rees sent a letter!” she told Draco.

“Really? What does she say?”

Ginny read quickly and told him “She hopes we are healthy and doing well, and because the weather is being nice and getting warmer, she invited us to go to the beach!”

Draco thought about it and asked “But we don’t have how to reach Little Haven”

“If we accept, she and her son would pick us up in a few days,” Ginny told him, going into the kitchen and motioning for him to follow, she had not forgotten that he had to learn how to cook.

“Who Benjamin?” he asked, taking the food out of the bag, dreading his lesson “I don’t like him, he’s too judgemental”

Ginny raised her eyebrow at him and he looked away with pink cheeks.

“No, it’s not Benjamin” she answered him, having fun teasing him “It’s the younger one, Iwan, he lives closer to her”

“As long as he doesn’t look at me like I’m some pitiful boy or whatever”

“So we’re going?”

She tried to hide it but he heard that hopeful tone.

“It could be fun, so yes”

Still smiling, Ginny handed him the muffin tin and he stared at it in confusion, was he supposed to cook in the small openings? That didn’t sound right. Draco looked back at Ginny in desperation and she shook her head, taking the tin from his hand and putting it on the counter.

“I will prepare the pasta, you need to pay attention, then we do the muffins” she explained.

Draco observed as she went to the oven, turning the heat up, but putting nothing inside.

“We need to pre-heat it,” she told him trying to ease his confusion “This way we’ll give it time to reach the correct temperature”

“Shouldn’t it already do that when you turn it on?” he asked.

“Muggle objects don’t always work immediately”

He missed magic but consoled himself with the thought of his seventeenth birthday getting near. Ginny gave him a dirty look when she noticed him not paying attention so he forced himself to observe again, noticing that Ginny had already blended the milk and spinach, and now was putting the pasta into the pan.

“Can you hand me that pot?” she asked, pointing to the one she needed.

He took it and watched as she left the pasta to cook and focused on the pot, melting the butter and adding the other ingredients, whisking constantly. After letting it simmer he almost didn’t notice what she did as she dived herself between the pasta and sauce. She then stirred the pasta with the sauce and added the broccoli and the peas.

Finished with that she put the mixture into a tray and put it into the oven.

“When did you learn?” He asked.

“My mother,” Ginny told him, smiling thinking back to how her mother was in the kitchen, “She thought I needed to learn early on, back then I thought it was very boring, but I see what she meant now.”

“My parents never thought I needed to learn something they believed beneath me, I think that if they saw me now they would faint” Draco shrugged.

The mental image of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy fainting at their son cooking was too funny for Ginny and she just had to laugh, Draco even joined her, they were, however, reminded they still had to finish the muffins when she bumped the pan and almost made it fall.

Taking a deep breath she turned to Draco “Now, you will be the one doing the cooking, I will only tell you what you are supposed to do.”

Sighing, he obliged.

“Take that bowl, and mix the flour and the baking powder”

Draco wasn’t sure how he was supposed to do that but he’d seen Ginny mix before and she always seemed to put force into it so maybe...

He had flour on his hair.

“Not that strong,” she laughed at him and he glared, so instead, Ginny got closer and taking his hand, she showed him.

At times, it still surprised Draco when she touched him, he was just never prepared and he wondered if she noticed.

Sure that he wouldn’t send the mixture all over the kitchen, Ginny took a step back “Now, put the other ingredients in and mix, but don’t over-mix it”

“That can happen?”

“Yeah, and then it isn’t fluffy anymore, so you should do it until just combined”

She still had to stop him because apparently, he and the recipe had different ideas on what just combined meant. They then proceeded to pour the mixture into the tin and placed it in the oven.

Later on, after they were done eating, Draco had to admit eating food that he actually made had a different but rewarding taste. And watching Ginny and Harry also enjoying the meal wasn’t bad either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how this compares to the other chapters, but as things have calmed down, there will be some more mundane and simple chapters like this here and there, hope they are not too boring.  
> I gotta admit to you... I don't know anything about cooking XD So I just looked up recipes that a one-year-old could eat and picked the ones that looked best (is it too obvious that I don't know what is happening? XD), it's so weird going to a mommy blog and being asked about child status (trying to conceive/pregnant/already had a child) and thinking "Research" XD  
> Just a simple filler chapter, I just wanted a chapter between these two chapters, next it's the beach episode!!!!


	17. Little Haven

To say that Ginny was excited would be an understatement.

With the warming days, it made for a great early visit to the beach and visiting another city after all those months had her almost waiting at the door for Mrs. Rees to arrive.

“So you admit the flat is too small,” said Draco, teasing her.

“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you can be smug about it” she answered, refusing to let him win.

He laughed.

Draco went to the bag they had set up the day before, to make sure they had all they needed. Being honest, he was excited too, at this point he hadn’t been to the beach in years, and getting away even for just that day sounded perfect. Harry even had a new hat.

They could use the fun.

“Isn’t this your triple check?” Ginny asked, just curious.

Draco thought about just shrugging or lying but decided on just being honest “Gives me something to think and I can easily control it, it’s easier than waiting.”

Ginny smiled at the small truths he’d say even when it wasn’t his first instinct.

“Let’s do something other than waiting then,” she exclaimed, taking his hand and leading him away from the bag.

He shook his head but accepted the offer.

She sat them down on the ground, picking Harry and seating him on her lap, the toddler eyeing them curiously.

“We’ve been training,” she told Draco before looking at the child “Harry, where is the nose?”

“What?” Draco asked laughing but Ginny shushed him.

Harry looked from one to the other before reaching his hand to Ginny’s nose, despite it looking very silly to Draco, Ginny beamed and stroked Harry’s head, the toddler now looking very pleased with himself.

“Harry, where is the couch?” she asked and again he pointed in the right direction.

“Anything more?” Draco asked amused, having now forgotten about his stress.

Ginny smirked then “Harry, where is Daa?” she said, stressing the a, enjoying the expression on Draco’s face, trying to be mad at her but unable to not find her play amusing.

Harry smiled and reached for Draco, who sighed and picked the boy, stroking his head, something he always seemed to appreciate, maybe he found it comforting, Harry seemed always more relaxed when he could feel at least one of them was there.

“Shouldn’t you be calling me Draco by now?” he asked the boy.

Harry blinked at him “Daa?”

“Draco,” he tried again, but the child didn’t seem to care.

“Dada!”Harry exclaimed instead.

Ginny burst out laughing and Draco rolled his eyes, resigning himself, Ginny couldn’t help but mock him a little.

“Apparently, he sees blonds as family too” she threw his joke back at him, trying to rein in her laughter.

When the sound of the doorbell came, Ginny jumped from the ground and ran to the door, happily greeting Mrs. Rees and inviting her inside.

This time Mrs. Rees was accompanied by her younger son and Draco had to admit he hadn’t expected for the man to look so young, not that much older than him in fact, his brown hair was darker than Benjamin’s and he didn’t look at Draco with pity like his older sibling had, it was a good difference that made Draco more relaxed in their choice to go to the beach.

“Hi!” the man introduced himself, a laid-back tone of voice “I’m Iwan, and you are the couple that my mum essentially adopted.”

Mrs. Rees glared at her son, not that they minded, Iwan Rees was a lot easier to be around to the two teenagers than the dutiful Benjamin had.

“Don’t mind him too much,” Mrs. Rees shook her head but still smiled, not really mad at her son.

Iwan smiled before turning back to them “Anything last minute? Or do we go now? The journey is a bit long” he explained.

“No, everything was packed before” Draco answered while Ginny went to pick their bag.

“Great! My girlfriend is coming too so it might be cramped” Iwan explained.

To Draco, any car was already too cramped but he focused on the fact that he would be seeing the beach afterward.

After going down the stairs of the flat they were greeted by a smiling and waving brown haired girl already in a bikini top and sunglasses.

“Hi! I’m Ceri” she introduced herself from the car window “You have a very cute child.”

“Thanks,” Ginny said, after having just Draco to talk to, it felt a strange to be talking so easily to someone else as Harry’s mother, it would take some getting used to.

“I’ll be driving, if you or Harry need anything you can just tell me,” Iwan told them, trying to make them at ease, he had Benjamin worried about everything the days before when they visited, he loved his brother but he’d gladly punch him at those times.

“Sure”

They got in the car, the three of them with Mrs. Rees in the back, while Ceri went back to her place in the passenger seat. In the first hour Draco tried to follow what Iwan was doing but not knowing what the rules for muggles car were, he was mostly confused throughout, so after that he gave up, deciding on observing the car instead, it was not very big to begin with, and while it could hold five people, it was still a tight fit, it almost made him miss the flat, and with an exuberant toddler that wanted to see everything and turned cranky when denied, it made all very exhausting, Iwan even had to stop once so they could change Harry. After a few hours, they were eager to arrive and get out of the car, but they had to admit, looking at the scenery from the windows made up for it.

And when they arrived in Little Haven, Ginny and Draco were enchanted. They could see why Mrs. Rees had chosen to live there.

Before they went to the beach, they stopped by Mrs. Rees house so they could change into their swimwear, Ceri lending Ginny one of hers. Draco waited for her in the living room after changing and borrowing the sunscreen to apply onto Harry.

“You two ready?” Iwan returned, smiling at them.

Draco picked up Harry and replied a simple Yes, unsure of what else to say or how to act near the man and Iwan noticed, raising his eyebrow at him.

“You don’t have to worry,” Iwan told him, realizing why the teen seemed so guarded “Not gonna judge you.”

Draco stared at him and decided to test Iwan’s reaction “Your brother did.”

The man sighed “Yeah, Benjamin is like that, he’s always been the self-righteous one, love the man but by god he’s insufferable,” and shrugged, his attitude amiable, clearly not offended by what Draco said “And besides, who am I to judge, at seventeen had a pregnancy scare with my ex-girlfriend, scariest hour of my life, you two seem to have handled it better than I did back then.”

Draco relaxed, glad that his impression of Iwan seemed to be correct and he wouldn’t deal with pity eyes from both of Mrs. Rees children.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted by Ginny’s return.

“Does it look terrible?”

Ginny was now wearing a two-piece green bikini that didn’t quite fit her, with the shorts-style bottoms being too small and the top being slightly bigger.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her and getting closer he smirked “Terrible, you look like a beggar”

Ginny laughed “If that’s how you want to play,” she adjusted the collar of his button-up shirt “You always choose the cheapest looking shirts.”

“You just don’t understand quality, love ” He retorted, pretending to be affronted.

“What’s about you boys and not giving direct compliments?” Ceri asked after observing their interaction.

Iwan laughed before kissing her on the cheek.

“Well then, are we ready to go?”

****

****

****

The beach was absolutely stunning.

The deep blue colour stretching as far as the eye could see, the sun reflecting on the water would sparkle in a show of almost blinding light. It hadn’t filled with people yet so they could just observe the waves crashing on the shore, in a way they weren’t even sure what to say, just appreciating the breeze as they stood there.

It was so much more than they expected.

Iwan had a knowing look as he passed them, finding their reaction entertaining, he told them “And this is why I never left, Ben is just dumb” and continued walking, ready to set their things down.

Draco and Ginny looked at each other and smiled, glad to be there.

Iwan, however, was confused.

“So, are you just going to be wearing that shirt in the water?” Iwan asked him.

Draco hesitated, before giving a half-hearted shrug “I just won’t go in the water then”

“Why not? It’s great today, it would be a shame you know” the man tried to convince him again.

Ginny observed the conversation, at first she was confused as to why Draco would be so evasive until it hit her like a ton of bricks.

_The Mark._

Since Voldemort had disappeared, the mark would be nothing more than a scar on his arm, but he was still dealing with his feeling on what it had meant for him thought the years, he didn’t want to show his arm.

With Harry on her arms, she got closer to him and Draco looked at her, confused and slightly guilty, after all, to the Rees it wouldn’t mean much but she knew what it truly was.

“It’s okay,” she told him, looking at him serenely “I don’t mind.”

She already knew what Draco and his past meant to her, it had no power to hurt her anymore.

He was conflicted but Ginny’s reassurance convinced him.

But there was one thing she hadn’t expected.

Because as Draco slowly opened his shirt, it wasn’t the faint scaring of the mark that caught her eye, that she already knew to be there, if anything she had expected it to look worse, that Voldemort would try to make it as hideous as he could, perhaps as punishment for the Death Eater allowing him to vanish, but unless you knew what to look for, you might just miss it completely.

No, what caught her eye was something else.

It was also a scar, but it was completely different from the one the Mark left.

If it was a simple cut it would’ve left a thin line, instead, the scar was larger and told her that the slash had to have cut deep into his body, much longer than the Mark, it stretched across Draco’s torso, starting at his shoulder and ending on his hip, and was impossible to miss, making such a contrast with his unblemished skin.

Ginny’s eyes flickered between his scar and his eyes, looking at her curiously.

“How?”

Draco turned his head, confused, “It was Harry, we fought in the bathroom remember?”

She bit her lip, because up until that point she hadn’t.

It had seemed such a small event for her back then, something she forgot just because it was more convenient.

She forgot that Harry almost killed Draco.

“At least it didn’t scar my face” he joked, hoping to break the tension, have her joke back at him, but she just turned to him with no reaction.

Draco frowned, not understanding why Ginny was acting as such, it wasn’t that surprising that he had a scar from that fight, no? It had been a stupid move on his part anyway and he’d been taken to the infirmary soon enough, it wasn’t important, and yet she looked at him with pained eyes.

Because Draco didn’t know about the Ginny then, and she had remembered it now, how her anger had blinded her when Harry told about the fight, how she dismissed what happened to Draco, it wasn’t right of him to use the Cruciatus but the way she’d venomously thought he deserved to lay bleeding in a bathroom floor, she even fought with Hermione about it.

Seeing it in front of her now, made her stomach sink.

If they knew each other then, the way they did now, would it have changed things?

Ginny touched the scar, feeling the tender skin there and how Draco trembled under her hand, guilt building inside her, knowing that she couldn’t even apologize, not to Hermione, and not even to Draco, he would probably agree with the her from then, but she didn’t want to be reassured.

She didn’t want Draco to die and that scar reminded her how close any of them were to that line, and how grey their world actually was.

Draco looked at Ginny, pain, guilt, and fear reflected in her eyes as her hand travelled the length of his scar. Unsure of what to do he took her hand in his, lacing her fingers with his.

“I’m here,” he whispered, hoping that it would reach her this time “I’m alright.”

Ginny raised her head, his silver eyes looking at her worriedly.

Smiling to calm him, she kissed the back of his hand “Sorry, I didn’t know about this one”

“Well, this time around we can just teach Harry not to use dark spells on other students” Draco joked, glad to see her back.

She gave him a tired laugh but when she looked back at him, her eyes were sincere “Then can we go to the water now?”

“Sure,” he said.

“Wow, how did you get that scar?”

They had completely forgotten about Iwan.

“Oh,” Draco exclaimed, back to reality “Just a school fight.”

The man patted him on the back while laughing “You need to tell me”

Mrs. Rees rolled her eyes “Iwan! Leave them alone”

“Come on, Mum, this seems quite the story!” he said but she just shushed him.

“Really isn’t,” Draco tried to dismiss it and not reveal their magic “One moment I’m fighting, next I’m bleeding on a bathroom floor, not as fun as winning”

Iwan seemed to appreciate the attitude, Draco was just glad that the man didn’t insist on knowing more.

Removing the barrier he’d created trying to hide the Mark, Draco could finally enjoy his day in the sun, the cold water not even bothering him. His past would always be marked on his skin but now he could see it with a clarity he never had before.

During the day he and Ginny stood mostly on the shore with Harry, enjoying his reactions to his time in the water, and taking turns with the child when the other wanted to go deeper in the water. Taking a moment from swimming Ginny sat down, her feet still touching the water, watching as Harry played with the sand while Draco was laying on his stomach, halfway in the ocean.

“Draco?”

He turned to look at her and she smiled.

“I’m glad you’re here now,” she told him, wrapping her hands around her legs and letting her head rest on her knees.

“...Ginevra? What--?”

But she couldn’t reply because Ceri appeared, holding a muggle camera and pointing it at them “Smile!” she said and they barely had time to do so when they were blinded by the flash.

Ceri smiled and told them “Once they are ready, I will send them to you!”

Draco grimaced and Ginny rolled her eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with muggle pictures” she reprimanded him.

He sulked “They are boring.”

The day went faster than they realized and after a break for eating and one last swim, when the sun began to go down, Mrs. Rees gave them a tour of the town and its history and when they returned to her house for the night, they were so tired they fell asleep as soon as they laid on the guest room bedroom.

Days later, when the mail arrived, they found Ceri’s photo in the letter.

“Too bad we don’t have the ingredients to make it a normal photo” Draco lamented looking at the static picture. He supposed it wasn’t a bad one, while they had been caught unaware, the photo didn’t reflect that, and they looked well enough but he missed the emotion one could capture in the wizarding world.

Ginny took the picture “I like it,” she told him “It’s our first family picture!”

Draco knew she meant it to be a teasing joke, but, looking at the photo again...

The picture was way more important now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was harder than I imagined it would be, that's the problem with having a clear vision of one scene but not the entire chapter XD Hope those parts didn't come out too badly. Anyway, I gotta say, I find incredible how Hermione is treated in the book for telling Harry that using magic you don't know anything about and almost killing someone (even if that someone is a dick) is bad, and how Ginny insulting her is supposed to be a good thing, just hate it.  
> Man, I miss being able to use the word "cafuné" :/ "head stroke" just doesn't convey the right emotion XD On the other hand, calling someone "Love" is the perfect combination of affectionate and sarcastic, It's perfect.  
> (La-la-la-la I love me some hand kisses)


	18. Search for a Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Employers: Aren't you a little young for this?  
> Draco: Yes, yes I am.

“So, It says here you are trained in finances, you speak fluent French, German and Russian,” the man looked at Draco “And you are only eighteen?”

“Yes,” Draco lied, bumping up his age had seemed his best option when he applied to jobs, even in the wizarding world he would not find anything at sixteen.

This would be his 25th interview, he’d counted them, and at every one he felt more and more dejected, most rejections were at least fast enough, but the ones that made him wait would drive him mad, he wasn’t even sure what to do to improve that. He could no longer rely on his father’s money for everything and he needed money now more than ever. During his other interviews he’d noticed that the other candidates had been wearing a suit, but looking at the prices he’d been surprised how expensive much of what he needed was, it all felt like an insurmountable obstacle.

He was tired.

The man frowned watching the teen, his simple clothing, how way too young he looked, but there was nothing he could do, he shook his head, gave back the documents and he saw how the boy slumped, ready for rejection, it was just enough to make him feel bad.

“We really need a more experienced person for this,” the man told Draco and he clenched his hands, annoyed at yet another disappointment.

“Very well,” Draco said as he got up “Thank you for your--”

“Wait, boy,”

Draco looked up, surprised, usually he was just indicated the door.

“How flexible is your schedule?” the man asked.

“Very,” he answered rapidly, the way he’d been asked, Draco could only hope what it meant.

“Well, there is no place for you here,” the man told him upfront and Draco almost cursed him, wondering why he had been stopped then, “But I have a friend, he is just starting and he needs more people, but it’s far from here”

“I will take it!” He exclaimed hurriedly, anything for a job now, even having to take the muggle bus every day.

“Good! Then I’ll write you the address”

And that was how Draco found himself in a crowded bus, squeezed between someone who smelled like cigarettes and someone that kept bumping their grocery bags on him.

Draco forced himself to think about finally having a job, possibly even leaving the blasted flat. He’d been studying about muggles acquisitions and as they were now, they had no chance of getting a loan for a house or at least to be able to pay for a better flat.

He was making the calculations in his head when Grocery Bags git made him fall onto the people behind him while leaving the bus, Draco wanted to hex that person so badly.

_Merlin_ did he miss magic. He couldn’t wait for his birthday in a few days.

Sighing wistfully, he returned to reality and prepared to arrive at the bus stop, thankful to leave after the miserable hour he had.

As the man said, the place was clearly new, by the smell, it was probable that the paint had been done recently and the sign was pristine, Draco could only hope the man was right about him being hired too.

“Hello, are you looking for something?”

Draco turned, the voice belonged to a short man with a prominent bald spot who seemed to be very uncomfortable at that moment.

“Ah, yes, I’m here for the accountant position” he explained, extending his hand to the man.

“Oh! Of course,” the man nodded, taking his hand before looking Draco up and down “But aren’t you a little young for this?”

Draco took a deep breath, forcing himself to hide his annoyance “My qualifications certainly make up for that”

The man’s eyes widened “You are right, shall we then?” and indicated a room to their right.

Draco nodded and they entered the office, as it was new, there was still some mess around and once they sat down, the man quickly reassured him that it was temporary.

“Just finishing some parts of the building, everything will be operative by Monday,” the man said, now focusing entirely on Draco “I’m Porter Morys, so about the job, mister...?”

“Hewitt, David Hewitt” he introduced himself, reaching into his bag for his papers.

Mr. Morys browsed his information, humming at some parts, and raising Draco’s anxiety.

“You really have a lot of talent,” said Mr. Morys, putting down the papers “But not much experience.”

“Can’t have it if no one gives me a start” Draco answered with a polite smile, making the man laugh.

“Right, then let’s see,” said Mr. Morys looking at him “What would you say about you?”

Draco opened and closed his mouth, confused by the sudden question.

“What I mean to say is,” the man decided to specify “Why do you need this job? What are you expecting from work? Why should I hire you? It’s not just about your abilities, it’s about fitting into the company”

With the expectation of those words, Draco took a moment to think about it before deciding on his answer, “As you said I don’t have the experience, but I can learn fast,” he began “I expect to grow here, and being able to progress in my career” he looked at Mr. Morys, the man seemed the kindly type, perhaps he should appeal to sentimentalism, “I need this job for my family, a wife, and a young boy”

“At eighteen?” Mr. Morys asked and Draco gave a pitiful nod, the reaction exactly what he’d planned.

He’d have to remember to thank Ginny later.

“I see, I have two girls myself, I would be terrified without a job” the man nodded, getting up from his chair and walking over to Draco.

“I’ll be happy to have you on my staff, Hewitt” Mr. Morys extended his hand and Draco shook it, feeling like his legs might give up on him “Start will be on Monday ‘till Friday, from nine to five”

“Yes, of course! Thank you!”

He couldn’t wait to tell them.

“What do you think we should do for his birthday?” Ginny asked Harry while browsing a cookbook, the child looked at the pictures but shook his head, so she sighed “This is supposed to be a surprise, but I’m short on ideas now.”

“Choco!”

Ginny smiled at the earnest toddler “For your birthday we can make Choco cake, okay?”

Harry nodded smiling and went back to his toys in the living room.

She looked back at the recipes, not seeing anything that she thought he’d like, she was just going crazy at this point, stupid... _Slytherin_. Merlin, she needed a better insult.

“I’m back!”

Ginny jumped and closed the book as fast as she could.

“Huh?” from the door Draco looked at her confused, so she turned all smiles, standing in front of the book, thinking if she could hide it without him seeing it, stupid small flat.

Deciding on just keeping him from the kitchen, Ginny went to greet Draco in the living room.

“Welcome back, so how did it go?” she asked, blocking his vision.

“Did you went to the store?” he asked, noticing the grocery bag.

“Ah! Yes, we were missing,” she looked around for inspiration “Milk,” watching Draco trying to remember what they bought last, Ginny really hoped he didn’t realize they bought everything last week “I know it wasn’t in our budget, but... uh, Harry needed it”

Draco smirked and Ginny thought he saw through her.

“Well then,” he began and she readied herself to explain

“Good thing I have a job now.”

“Yeah, I know we don’t have much now but--”

Ginny’s eyes widened when she actually realized what he said.

“You’ve got a job?!”

His smile got softer and he nodded.

“Merlin! Congratulations!”

Draco didn’t expect for Ginny to leap into him, her arms around him he felt so unprepared, he rushed to catch her as his heart accelerated, it felt as if it would break out of his chest as he held her close.

Ginny pulled back to speak to him and found his cheeks had gone pink, looking at him was strangely endearing, she wasn’t sure what to say, she wanted to ask how it happened, where it was, maybe congratulate him again, and so much more, but his arms were around her and she couldn’t ask even one.

“Daaaaa! Up! Up!”

“Huh?”

They let go of each other and saw a cranky Harry, trying to stay on his tiptoes and raising his arms at Draco. They shared a look of amusement before Draco picked him up.

“You are a needy boy, huh?” he asked but the toddler just smiled, now content.

Ginny laughed alongside, but watching them now she had to wonder.

Why did she felt disappointed?

“Do you need help with dinner?”

Ginny blinked, trying to ignore that question and focusing back on Draco.

“Dinner, need help?” he asked again, noticing she was distracted the first time.

She was about to agree, the feeling from before forgotten at his offer, maybe even more enthusiast than felt necessary but it was a happy day, and they would spend less time together from then on, so really, it was a great idea...

Then she remembered.

“NO!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this unrealistic? Probably, but in this economy, I just want to write about finding a job with a nice boss *sigh*  
> Any good? :D
> 
> I absolutely love light novels and a lot of them have very simple and self-explanatory titles, these days I was thinking that if I was to gave this story a title like those it would probably be something like: "Raising the male lead together with the villain!"  
> Does this have anything to do with anything? Nah, but I thought it funny :3  
> To what really has to do, my original idea was to add the most significant changes beginning from Harry's fourth year (there would be differences in 1-3 of course, but they would be more Harry related than the story as a whole), but lately I've been thinking if I should start all-out :/ what do you guys think?
> 
> p.s: Was listening to Bad Boy from Cascada while writing... I feel 10 again XD


	19. Seventeeth Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> p.s: I wouldn't try writing it now exactly, but I've been thinking of a new fanfic, that while different from this, would be similar in a way that I wonder if I should write it at all: So, it would be about a 17 yr old Draco after the battle of Hogwarts thinking he would be sent to Azkaban and saying that if he had a second chance he would do everything differently, and the next morning he wakes up being eleven again and trying to avoid his fate he would unintentionally end up being friends with the trio. (It would be a Drinny, yes)  
> Should I write it?

That June day, Draco woke up alone.

Knowing the day, he could very well think why, but it still felt strange to not see their faces first thing in the morning. He supposed it would give him time.

Getting up, he took a deep breath before crouching and taking a box from under the bed.

When they arrived, he and Ginny agreed to hide their wands until their seventeenth birthday so they wouldn’t be tempted to use magic, almost a year spent like a muggle and so much had changed since then. He wasn’t the same person he was when the wand choose him, did it still belong to him or would his magic refuse him now?

He didn’t know why he was suddenly so hesitant, he’d waited for that moment for so long, feeling he was missing an important part of him hiding in that familiar weight of the wood, wanted to feel the tangible proof of his heritage.

And now he was afraid of what he would find.

Some wands were temperamental, would his reject him now?

_Just staring at the box isn’t going to answer that_ , he forced himself into action, opening it for the first time since.

The two wands looked just the same as when they were put there, the dark wood made both almost disappear in the shadows, he wasn’t sure what he had expected but there was something calming about their appearances so he reached for his.

The effect was immediate and overwhelming, holding his wand again just felt like the right thing, he could feel the power that connected them so plainly he wondered why he ever doubted it.

It was like being greeted by your oldest friend after a long time.

The magic within him was something no one could take from him and it was where he belonged in the deepest part of him.

Draco smiled.

“Thank you”

After putting away Ginny’s wand he walked towards the door and heard giggles from the outside. Smiling he wondered what the trouble duo was doing on the other side.

“Good morning,” he said, entering the living room.

“Morning” Ginny answered back, head buried in a newspaper, not that it helped her in any way as Harry kept giggling and her grip on the paper was too strong to let it be legible.

“You two are shite at pretending,” he told them.

“Boo!” Harry screamed from the couch raising his arms.

Ginny gave up the pretense then and laughing she turned to Harry “It’s happy birthday, boo is for Halloween”

Draco smiled and moved towards them.

“Happy?” Harry asked, then he looked back at Draco and screamed “Happy! Happy!”

Taking Harry in her arms she got up, now in front of Draco she said “Guess we need to get better at surprises,” she looked into his eyes “Happy Birthday Malfoy!”

“Thank you Weasley,” he said, truly sincere.

There were no lavish parties or expensive gifts, he missed what money could give him, but standing with them in that tiny flat felt right, just as his connection to his wand, he _wanted_ to be with them.

It felt like home.

Looking at Ginny, he leaned towards her without realizing and his stomach did a flip, things were... _strange_ since the day he got his job, none of his action made sense when she was close and he wasn’t always sure what to do about it.

“We made a cake!”

Ginny exclaimed in a rush, blocked as she was between Draco and the couch, his stare was just too much, she wasn’t used to him having that type of effect on her, it was new and scary and she needed to escape for now.

Draco smiled and raised his eyebrow at her, but nevertheless, took Harry as she rushed into the kitchen.

“You helped?” he asked and Harry laughed.

“No cheating, you don’t get to know until you have a piece!” came Ginny retort as she took the cake from the fridge.

He leaned and whispered to Harry “Do you know what is the cake?”

Harry smiled “Not Choco.”

“Hum, traitor”

Ginny shook her head as she brought the cake, it was a simple lemon cake, she had tried to make a fondant snake but her mother had always done most of the decorating and looking at her results, she now wondered if it had been a mistake.

“Oh, this is nice, is this...” Draco frowned and turning his head he asked “A capybara?”

“What? No, it’s a snake!” Ginny protested, blushing at her failure “I don’t even know what a capybara looks like!”

Draco laughed and her face turned even more red, he couldn’t help finding it endearing.

“You know, I never had someone make a birthday cake for me,” he told her, he wanted for her to know what it meant to him even if she couldn’t make a convincing snake to save her life.

“Really?” Ginny wasn’t sure why that surprised her, she couldn’t imagine someone like Narcissa Malfoy in a kitchen making sure not to burn her son’s birthday cake, Draco himself hadn’t known anything about cooking before, but it still felt strange not to imagine someone doing those things like her mother.

“Yeah only ever the kitchen elves” he shrugged, he thought it wasn’t important but it was nice knowing that she had made the cake thinking of him.

“Well, I didn’t know what you liked best, so--” Ginny explained.

“Peach”

“Huh?”

She looked at him, her heart unprepared as he smiled, Ginny hoped he would assume her blush was from earlier.

“My favorite flavour,” he explained again “it’s peach.”

“Really? Always figured it would be something sourer or maybe mint”

“Always so assuming” he joked, his free hand on his chest as if she had slighted him.

“Well then, what do you think is my favorite flavour?” she challenged him, Ginny couldn’t let him have it that easy after all.

Draco froze, trying to think of something that suited Ginny or to maybe remember what she would eat at Hogwarts, but he had never looked twice at her back then and had no idea.

“Chocolate?” he asked but shook his head, too predictable “Marshmallow?” that didn’t sound right “Apple? Vanilla? Pumpkin?”

Laughing she decided to end his pain “It’s caramel.”

He smiled “Good to know.”

Taken as they were in teasing each other they almost missed Harry reaching for the cake.

“Whoa!” Draco exclaimed holding him slightly away “Not yet, we need the candles first”

Harry looked at him confused, so Ginny decided to finally show him and putting the cake on the coffee table she lit up the candles, the toddler's eyes turning to wonder and a big smile.

Ginny sang happy birthday and Harry imitated her clapping happily, before finally being allowed to eat his piece of the cake, that despite the failure, was indeed very good.

They continued to talk and joke, Ginny mentioned that she wanted to try and take Harry to the cinema, Hermione had always talked happily about that and she was curious, and Draco mentioned that he heard their neighbour was selling their old telly and the price would be perfect for them.

In the middle of it, Ginny noticed for the first time, the wand in Draco’s pocket.

“You took yours back” she exclaimed.

“Yes,” Draco said, unsure why her noticing made him embarrassed “I’m seventeen now, they can’t track me anymore.”

“It’s been a long time huh,” Ginny said smiling, looking at the wand made her miss hers “I didn’t even notice you had yours.”

As they were talking, Draco felt Harry trying to reach his other side, where his wand was.

“This,” he showed Harry “Is a wand, every wizard has one”

The toddler looked at it, eyes wide and curious but Draco didn’t let him play, he was too young.

“When you grow up, you will get yours too.”

Reaching for one of the napkins, he made a little bird and muttered a spell, the bird then shook his body and opened his wing, flying first around Harry then around the room, entrancing the child.

Ginny and Draco smiled at each other.

“This Harry, is magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta confess, I only know Harry's day of birthday and that Draco's is somewhere in June XD I feel bad for Ginny, don't know where to put her birthday :3 I don't pay much attention to the design of the wands, but looking at the ones sold in universal both Ginny's and Draco's are dark, which means absolutely nothing but I just think it's cool.  
> Huuum, think wizards with muggle-wizard parents and muggle-borns have the same imposter syndrome of cross-culture kids? Just a thought.  
> Hahahahaha, I kind of like the idea of Ginny realizing their feelings are changing before Draco does XD I mean, he is an only child with just one non-specified relationship whereas she had two boyfriends at this point XD  
> (I really couldn't resist mentioning capybaras XD)  
> Next chapter: It's...filler ^-^'
> 
> p.s: Grammarly is too American sometimes XD


	20. To the Zoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, it seems you guys are interested in the fic I mentioned last chapter :D I will start work on that but as I thrive with a script, I need that first, but after that I will start writing (by comparison, I wrote the first 5 chapters of Choices before uploading) Hope I'll do a good job :D  
> (I need incentives not to call it "The Villain rewrites his story" XD I need to read less isekais)

Draco took Harry and raised him to sit on his shoulders so the child could see above the crowds.

Out of curiosity, they had decided to go to the zoo that day; the days were warm, people had decided to visit more and would probably double once the school year was done, so it seemed a good idea to visit before then.

He thought it was a nice break from work, it had been two months now but it still felt weird not spending as much time with them as before, in a way, Draco supposed, he missed them during the week. Ginny on her end, was aware, maybe even too much, of how both his absence and his proximity was affecting her, going out was a better alternative to confronting that change in them.

She just wasn’t ready yet.

They passed through the roads, observing the animals, Harry being extremely disappointed when the lion didn’t roar as they passed by and Draco had to keep him from throwing himself into the area of the deers before the child decided he’d rather walk as they passed by the monkeys and the birds.

They went all around the zoo and then took some time in the reptiles section, but the moment they heard hisses that weren’t from the serpents, they decided to move on rapidly and go eat instead.

They sat on the table and Ginny set down the food they had made the day before for their trip, Harry watched happily from his seat beside Draco.

“Mine!” the toddler declared when Ginny took out the sandwiches.

Draco laughed “They are all yours? Do you even have the space?” and poked him on the side, briefly tickling the laughing child.

Harry reached for the food and pulling it over to him, he observed the plate before taking one out and handing it to Draco, who thanked him and stroked his head.

“So only he gets food?” said Ginny with fake outrage.

The toddler looked back to the plate in alarm, but Ginny had no time to assure him of the joke that Draco helped him give the other sandwich to her.

“This for Mama”

“She has so little faith, don’t you think Harry?” Draco said and Harry laughed.

“Don’t listen to him,” Ginny shook her head but her smile told the two that she was perfectly happy “Thank you, Harry.”

He smiled and took his own sandwich.

They were finishing their food when Harry pointed to their side where some peacocks had flown to, and after putting away their stuff, the two went near the birds, Ginny at first just watched what they were doing but decided to follow them.

“Do you like the peacocks, Harry?” Draco asked the child, crouching to his height.

“Yea!” he answered with a big smile and nodding.

“Do you want to see them closer?”

Hearing Draco say that Ginny worried he might try to use magic to call the animals, it would gather too much attention so she rushed to their side.

“There are too many people here, don’t try anything.”

But the blond just smiled, enigmatic and smug, she wondered what did he plan on doing.

“Do you, Harry?” he asked again.

Harry’s eyes shone “Yes! Colours Bird!”

Ginny watched with guarded curiosity as instead of reaching for his wand, Draco carefully did _something_ , she wasn’t sure what, but one of the closest ones seemed to find that intriguing and even as he kept Harry just behind him, she still wanted to grab Harry and put distance between him and the bird, her experience with chickens made her suspicious.

Despite what she thought, however, the bird did nothing and casually approached the two, letting them admire him closer, Harry even squealed happily, although he didn’t leave Draco’s side, and satisfied, Draco picked him up again and the toddler offered a quick bye to the bird.

Ginny observed them impressed, not even minding his smugness anymore.

“So, what did you think?” he asked.

Ginny laughed, he looked so expectantly at her, she didn’t even try to deny him that, he was on the verge of a smile and she didn’t mind making him happy.

“How did you do that?”

Smiling, and Ginny had to admit thatmade her heart flutter, he answered her “My father thought that by having peacocks around it would make him look all the richer, I grew around many and learned from it,” looking away, then back at her, he bashfully admitted “I may have set them upon Greg and Vince once or twice”

The mental image of Goyle and Crabbe running from the birds should’ve made her laugh but her mind was stuck on the part where Draco admitted having peacocks as pets.

“I know you were rich,” she began, still trying to wrap her head around it “But, exactly, _how_ rich were you?”

“Why? Seeing the benefits too late?” Draco joked, he couldn’t quite understand why it was such a surprise for her.

“Normal people don’t have that kind of animals as pets,” she tried to explain to him, at times, Draco could be completely oblivious to normal life.

“Didn’t your family have chickens?” he asked, remembering how people around him would often insult the Weasleys for that.

“Chickens and peacocks are not the same thing!”

Her distress made him laugh, whenever she was worked up like that her ears turned red and her eyes were so intensely focused on him,Draco restrained himself from reaching for her,he didn’t care that she thought him as spoiled, he wouldn’t deny he had been, and yet, Ginny had a way of entertaining him with the smallest of things.

Ginny couldn’t even truly be mad at him for laughing, so she just pouted.

“If you must know,” Draco began, deciding on indulging her “The Malfoys are one of the richest families in Britain, I would say the Zabinis are too, if you want to consider Blaise’s mother particular way of attaining more money, the Lestranges would be, Aunt Bella--”

The shift in tone was immediate, his eyes darkened, shields up, Draco now seemed far away now and he didn’t seem to want to continue even if before he had been enjoying himself.

Ginny had never heard him talk about _that_ side of his family, and while she might have before thought that to be because of her, and her distaste for _who_ his father was, Draco’s reaction was just too extreme, there was no lost love there.

“You call her Aunt Bella” was Ginny's statement, unsure how to begin the conversation otherwise.

“It’s just the habit,” he told her, looking straight ahead and walking again “I know _what_ she was.”

But he was closed off from her, Ginny observed, they walked alongside each other but he kept his mouth shut and his eyes away from her, cutting her off, and she hated that.

“Draco!”

Even as he stopped walking, he still refused to look at her.

“Don’t do that,” Ginny told him, hand to his chin, turning his head so he would finally look at her again “Don’t shut me off, Draco, not anymore”

Draco sighed, knowing he had no way of hiding from her stubbornness, he lowered his mental shields and looked at her as her hand moved to his cheek; an involuntary caress judging from how she removed it as if burned.

“I didn’t know my aunt before the summer after my fifth year” he explained, in many ways, he wanted to avoid Ginny’s eyes but there was something in him, that wouldn’t let him turn away from her “At first, I thought her presence to be a mild annoyance at most, a way to get my father back faster”

“As time went on, and my father place on their side fell, there was an expectation, and my aunt couldn’t care less that I was her sister’s son, only whether or not I could fulfill my role, I think she cared about my mother just enough to agree to teach me occlumency”

“Occlumency!” Ginny exclaimed, “Draco, you are an occlumens?”

Draco realized then that he never told her of that particular fact, it had seemed so irrelevant before.

“Well, it was necessary” he began, no sure how to feel about that “Begin near the Dark Lord, I had to protect my mind, and despite what my aunt claims, even she kept her mind closed”

Ginny knew that feeling, but instead of the hurt that memory provided, her heart was focused on Draco, and how lonely he had been, unable to trust anyone and having to protect even the deepest part of him, he hadn’t been right, but there was much more that she understood now.

“Can’t have been easy, when Harry” Ginny said and the toddler looked at her “had to learn occlumency from Snape, he always seemed terrible afterward”

“I’d imagine so, the training for occlumency is highly invasive,” Draco said “Aunt Bella certainly had her fun, laughed at all my memories until I was capable of keeping her away”

Emotionless, expressionless, Bellatrix had thought that would make him the perfect soldier for the Dark Lord, he, instead, had only felt like he couldn’t be safe anywhere.

“It’s going to be hard,” Ginny said, looking into his eyes “Going back to those days.”

Draco smiled “We still have some years, and we will be better prepared then.”

“Do you think we can change our history?”

“I’m not sure, but if we want to keep safe, it will become necessary at times”

Ginny had long since learned that Draco Malfoy was fiercely loyal to his family, and now, that was herself and Harry; there was something about it that hit deep, to have the trust of someone who seldom gave it.

And she felt all the danger that came with that feeling.

Draco noticed that Harry had slackened on him, and looking down, noticed the toddler had fallen asleep, lulled by their voices after the long day.

Laughing he turned back to Ginny, who seemed distracted, he imagined it was because of what they were talking, “Guess someone is ready to go home”

Ginny shook her head, she would think about her feeling later, then she smiled.

“Yea, let’s go home”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually after chapter 20 but I didn't want Harry's birthday immediately after Draco's, it was too weird, boh  
> Ooookay, the zoo is definitely not European but rather very much based on the one near my birth city XD The reason for that was solely because I remembered that in that zoo the peacocks are sort of free to roam around? I dunno, you would be able to see them outside of their zone, just walking around and I thought it would look cute in a chapter considering Lucius has peacocks *shrugs* (I do have a liberties concession tag, no?)  
> Ginny and Draco dynamic in this chapter is essentially:  
>  **Draco:** Huh? How weird, I really don't understand this feeling, what could it be?  
>  **Ginny:** Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I can't be crushing on him, fuck!
> 
> p.s: was re-reading pride and prejudice, is it too noticeable?


	21. Their First Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before you say anything about the picture I must inform you that I used a drawing base so I wouldn't fuck up the poses and I totally cheated on Draco's hair XD I just could get it the way I wanted! The clothes, Ginny and Harry's hair, the background, and the colors are totally me tho. (that's why the fence is so fecky XD)

"Got everything?”

“The cake is ready, I bought the sweets earlier and the gift is on the table”

“Mrs. Rees should be coming later”

“From Little Haven?” Draco asked surprised.

“Yeah, I told her about Harry’s birthday and she said she would visit” Ginny explained, exiting the kitchen.

“What do you say, mate?” Harry looked up questioning and Draco smiled “Oh well, more gifts this way, right?”

“Teaching him to be a Slytherin?” Ginny crossed her arms as Harry looked from one to the other curious.

The toddler’s day had begun particularly happy, with kisses and happy birthdays, he had then played with his toys as his parents went around the place, arranging flags and making the room look much more colourful than the white that they would reapply whenever he made drawings on the walls, it pleased him to see it.

Draco smiled “Better sooner than later, can you imagine,” he pretended to look somewhere far away while smirking “Harry Potter, the Slytherin”

She shook her head and smiling she picked up Harry “Don’t listen to him Harry, you are a Gryffindor” she said before tickling him “You are going to listen to Mama, right?”

“That’s not fair, aren’t you supposed to be the good ones?” Draco laughed.

Ginny smirked, “Who said the good ones need to play fair?”

Draco was sure that the way she looked smirking was not fair.

“So, Harry, Mama is right, Gryffindor is the way” she bounced the laughing child.

“Yea! Mama’s wight!” he said.

“Exactly!”

Draco shook his head, not that he minded, whatever Harry might have believed in their time, he knew the boy didn’t have a single Slytherin bone in him, Hero Complexes weren’t a big thing between the snakes. Those two belonged to the lions, to the gold and the limelight.

His hand wrapped around his left arm, phantom pains as his mind slipped into that pitiful feeling.

When the bell rang he decided to focus on that instead.

He welcomed the older woman at the door then Iwan and his girlfriend Ceri, who ran towards Ginny and Harry as soon as she saw them.

“Ooohh! Can I hold him?” she asked enthusiastically.

Ginny held Harry closer to the girl to see if he wanted to go and he agreed, letting himself be pampered by someone else for once.

“He’s so cute!” Ceri exclaimed “Iwan! We should have one!”

“They are not nearly as cute when you are the one responsible for them” the man shook his head then turned to Draco “Save me!”

“I don’t think I’m in the best position for that” Draco said amused.

“True enough,” he agreed.

Ceri smiled in victory and Ginny laughed.

Shaking her head, Mrs. Reed instead went to Harry and handed him his gift, the boy's eyes shining in curiosity and tried to reach for it.

“Don’t you want your cake before?” Ginny asked him and he turned towards her, eyes wide.

“Cake! I wanna Choco cake!” he exclaimed.

With a chuckle, Ginny went to the kitchen to pick up the cake, this time she hadn’t attempted anything fancy, just regular frosting, Harry would need to wait until he could remember for better cakes.

She had just taken the plate with the cake when Draco followed her and asked her if she wanted help, reaching for the plate she was holding, their hands touching.

“I can handle a cake for six” she joked.

He smiled “Could’ve fooled me”

“You can get the spoons”

“Uhm” he nodded but hesitated for a moment, hands still over hers, then went to the drawer.

Mrs. Reed observed the scene, she remembered when she met them, almost a year before. Back then they were guarded, hesitant, and even when near they seemed distant, back then, she attributed it to their situation, two teenagers alone with a child with no one else to rely on but a stranger.

As said stranger, there was just _something_ about watching the two now, they smiled and joked and searched the other in the room, she didn’t miss the excuses to touch or the way they looked at the other now. The storm was behind them, and their feelings could finally shine.

Mrs. Rees smiled.

Ginny set down the cake and took Harry back from Ceri while Draco put the candles in.

Harry was all smiles and applauded as they sang Happy birthday around him.

“Now, you need to make a wish Harry” she explained, looking at the toddler.

“A wish?” he asked, head turned.

“Yeah, you ask for something that you want”

Harry seemed to think about it then said “Cake!”

Draco laughed and got closer to them “Well, that’s certainly an easy birthday wish” and put his hand halfway through Ginny’s arm and Harry back. Ginny was incredibly aware of Draco’s touch, even if only by chance, she couldn’t not think about his fingers on her skin. It was only with a lot of strength that she focused back on the conversation.

“You can’t let us know what it is”

“No?”

“No”

Draco smiled “Then we help you blow the candles”

Harry nodded and scrunched up his face as he concentrated, when he opened his eyes again Ginny and Draco leaned over the cake so Harry could imitate them as the light disappeared and their guests cheered.

Ceri took some pictures for them and they ate the cake, Harry getting his birthday wish, before the opening of the gifts.

Mrs. Rees gave new clothes and Harry liked the one with balloons on it, Ceri and Iwan gave him a teddy bear almost as tall as him. After being sure that Harry had liked their present, Iwan and Ceri turned to talk to each other, Ginny and Draco were very glad of that because Harry caused the bear to move for him and they had to rapidly cover that bit of magic from their muggle guests.

Despite the close call, the rest of the day went well and Harry had fun.

At the end of the day they said goodbye to their guests, Ceri promised to quickly send them the pictures and Mrs. Rees asked for them to visit when they could, glad to see them so closer than before.

When they closed the door Ginny gave Draco a tired smile before he took the sleepy Harry for his nighttime routine.

“Want me to do it?” Ginny asked, looking at the two leaning on the bathroom door frame.

“No, it’s okay,” he explained before jokingly adding “Can’t have people saying I don’t help”

Ginny smiled contently, even her feelings in disarray gave her a moment to enjoy that peace.

She opened her arms and said “Give me, I’ll put him to bed”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, I’m tired too, one bedtime story, and I’ll probably be sleeping too”

Draco smiled and watched them enter the bedroom.

He moved towards their first picture and took it into his hands.

The feeling he had before returned but he ignored those phantom pains, he knew who he had been, probably he didn’t even deserve to be with them at that moment.

But he knew himself and if they were light.

“Going to sleep too?” Ginny asked in a whisper as he climbed on the bed.

Draco smiled at her and gently stroked Harry’s hair as he slept.

He was selfish, he didn't mind basking in their light.

“Goodnight Gin”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Me writing my script:** Huh? Harry's second birthday in chapter 20? That seems too much, oh well, knowing me I'll probably remove some of these along the way, it will probably end up being chapter 10 at most ^-^  
>  **Me now:** Oh honey, you have no idea...  
> Hahahaha, Harry's third birthday should not take as long  
> Happy Halloween people!!! I have a Halloween chapter coming up but I couldn't finish it before Halloween XD  
> Hope you guys like this!


	22. Meanwhile 2

“Oh, Ginbug you are going to love it,” Arthur told the child.

He was very happy to be showing his daughter around that day, having decided after her birthday to follow a muggle tradition of _“bringing your child to work”_ , maybe hoping to inspire her curiosity toward muggles, it would be nice to, in the future, work with one of his children.

He showed her around his office, although that wasn’t a lot as it was very small, for a small child, she fit there just right, all the clutter and curious objects around were a particular delightful distraction and more than once Arthur had to prevent the child from knocking over a pile of papers onto herself. Nonetheless, he was convinced the muggles had the right idea, hearing Ginny babble as he did his work was incredibly fulfilling, he truly loved being a father and he’d like to bring the others as well one of those days.

If he could get the twins to behave that is.

“Ah! Good morning Arthur!”

Arthur Weasley smiled at his colleague “Good morning!” and nodded with his head as both his hands were occupied.

The man had just entered the lift and had only given him a brief acknowledgment before he looked again, at first the man was surprised then he smiled.

“This your youngest?” he asked, watching the little child on Arthur’s hip.

“Yeah, this is Ginny, want to say hi Ginny?” the child's eyes went from one to the other, looking unsure of what they expected as recent one-year-olds often looked like.

“Apparently not” the man joked and they laughed.

Looking around, Arthur noticed the man holding the Daily Prophet, he hadn’t seen it yet as Ginny had kept him distracted and he was quite curious about the news on Harry Potter, he was, as many were, fascinated with the boy who disappeared, putting down his briefcase, he politely asked if he could see it.

The man agreed and handed him the papers, the image that greeted him on the front was that of three people smiling to the camera, a woman and a man, so much younger than he liked to think about, and a baby, no knowledge of the events about to unfold.

“It’s been almost a year huh?” he said, still looking at The Prophet and the picture of the Potters, one of the lasts he imagined. It always angered him, the reminder of how terrible You-know-who had been and his lack of heart for the people that he hurt, for the families he destroyed, he truly hated him.

“So they really have given up the search?” Arthur asked dispassionately, unfortunately, he knew it was coming, still, he had been hoping for more.

“The search? I’m surprised they didn’t declare him dead!” the man said incredulous.

“So you believe he died?” he asked again.

“Why? You don’t?” the man raised his eyebrow at him “Anyway, what would you expect to happen? A one-year-old against the death curse, of course I believe he was blown to smithereens and that’s why there is no body”

Arthur adjusted Ginny on his lap, that talk of dead children making him uncomfortable.

“Dumbledore believes that the boy is alive somewhere and I believe Dumbledore” he explained calmly, handing the papers back.

From the moment it spread that the Potters had died, Dumbledore had been the first to insist on leaving Harry Potter with his remaining family despite the protest that such an important child should instead be raised by wizards, and when it was revealed the disappearance of the boy, he had been one of the fiercest in the search, and the fiercest believer in his survival. Albus Dumbledore was a highly respected warlock and many believed his claims, but as the man was of the secretive type, others had been skeptical, insisting he proves what he said.

In the end, the headmaster of Hogwarts admitted to one thing.

_“Harry Potter lives, with the scar of the curse, it looks like a lightning bolt”_

It wasn’t unbelievable that such dark magic had left scars and the death curse had a very recognizable motion, Arthur wondered sometimes if Dumbledore wanted to inspire people to recognize the boy and continue the search from there.

Arthur wouldn’t put it past a man intelligent as him.

“Dumbledore, bah!” the other man complained and he gave a small polite laugh “I’ll believe it when I see it”

“I guess we’ll have to wait for his eleventh birthday,” Arthur said and the man nodded.

“No one can hide from Hogwarts’ magic”

Lucius had come to the ministry that day to deal with a possibly pesky new law, if he could stop it before then, his earnings could double in the coming year instead, and it would be less of a hindrance in the long run.

The meeting had been longer than he’d imagined when he’d arrived earlier, dealing with those people, thinking how to best manipulate them or, when needed, how to best threaten them. It had taken too long of the time he could be spending on more important businesses, or the time with his family, although that day Narcissa had her _friends_ over, he truly didn’t want to deal with those women, he thanked Salazar every day for Narcissa impeccable heritage, he didn’t want to think what he would have done had he been forced to marry one of those.

No, he’d rather leave that to her alone.

But while he was at the Ministry, he could have his own brand of fun.

It seemed that Weasley had arrived that day with one of his many children, from the size he supposed it to be the youngest, the girl, but he didn’t know how that family lived, maybe they were small due to hunger, served them right for choosing to be blood traitors.

Lucius looked at the child, he didn’t suppose there was anything to talk about, she looked as any other Weasley did, red-hair bordering on carrot orange and freckles, this one even had underwhelming dark brown eyes, there was nothing particularly different, he supposed after the third they just blended together.

_Draco had bright eyes._

Not that there was any comparison between his child and any Weasley, but he took some measure of pride in that nonetheless.

“Ha! Arthur Weasley!” it was theatrical perhaps, but people never expected him to approach and he took a delight in watching them be surprised as they struggled with how to better act next.

“Malfoy,” the older man said with an acknowledging nod, hoping to avoid him fast.

Not that he would let him, all the talk from before had made him want some fun, and there was none better than an angry Weasley.

Looking down at the child again as if he cared, he brought his attention back to the man “Hoping to have more employees? I’m sure you have enough back up if you start picking your children, the money sure would be handy”

Then he pretended to think as Weasley began to redden as usual “Although I’m not sure they pay for children” and just to add some more fire “Would they even be capable? I suppose your... _job_ , isn’t the most important here so it wouldn’t even matter their _abilities_ ”

“I am very proud of my children” Arthur replied, feeling his anger wanting to explode and using Ginny as his anchor “We are so much more than people like you believe”

Lucius smiled, while Weasley was trying not to rise to his bait, the anger was just written all over him.

“Your son, the youngest one” Lucius began “He is the same age as my Draco”

Arthur listened, hoping that Malfoy would say whatever he needed to say and just leave already.

“I wonder which one will be better?” he asked “When the time comes”

Arthur shook his head “Is this what your son means to you?”

Lucius smile fell, furrowing his brow.

“What are you implying, Weasley?” his tone lowered, promising retribution.

The man looked into his eyes “You are using him for your own victory, he is just a child, your child”

_Oh, right, Weasley self-righteousness_ , Lucius scoffed, but nevertheless, his mood was ruined.

“What would you know” he growled.

He took a brief look at the child again, she was still looking nonplussed, just staring at him.

“Ugly freckled thing”

And he turned around, decided on not thinking about the other man or what he’d said again, he didn’t need to listen to simpletons as if they could think more than one rational sentence per day.

Blood traitors were almost as low as mudbloods, hardly worth his time.

****

After making sure the man was gone, Arthur held Ginny in front of him.

“Never trust a Malfoy, Ginny,” he told his daughter, who smiled, trying to reach for his cap “Not one of them is good”

Satisfied to see the man go and his speech to Ginny delivered, he too left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Weasley if you knew XD  
>  **"As recent one-year-olds often looked like":** me talking about my aunt's friend's baby.  
> Another chapter focusing on the "present" characters, I wanted a chapter here but didn't feel that anything particularly important was happening with the Hewitts so I decided to talk about the wizarding world and a brief view of baby Ginny this time!  
> Is the scene with Lucius and Arthur too cartoonish? think I exaggerated on that one :/  
> Next is the belated Halloween chapter XD
> 
> Sooooo, about my second fanfic... The script is ready and I began the first chapter!!! :D The title (that might still change) shall be: **At the Beginning Again**. Too terrible?


	23. First Year

For that Halloween, Ginny had planned what she wanted to think as the best Halloween. She had prepared the costumes prepared long ago to make sure nothing would be missing later, bought candy, and a camera so she could take pictures.

Everything would be perfect.

“Why are you the only one that gets to be a witch?” protested Draco from his store-bought pirate costume.

Ginny giggled in her pointy hat and way too much black tulle skirt, “Well, if we all went as wizards it would be too suspicious,” smiling she put on him the eye patch, leaving her hands on his collarbone “It doesn’t look too bad”

He gave a look to Harry that was doing a toddler version of a hop, his face painted white to match his bunny hat and white sweatshirt under blue overalls.

_A pirate, a witch, and a bunny enter a room..._

“We’ll be the most mismatched family out there,” he said with a resigned smile.

She raised her arms in triumph before going to pick up Harry.

“It still looks cheap!”

“We are cheap, Draco!”

They left the flat for Harry’s first trick or treat, where Ginny had carefully organized their route, and Draco was almost convinced she had _researched_ their neighbours for that, he wasn’t sure he was more scared or intrigued by that thought.

“Trick or treat?” they said, as Draco helped Harry understand that he needed to put forward the pumpkin bag he’d been previously playing with.

“Oh! A little bunny! Here darling” Harry watched curiously as they gave him candy, eyes widening.

“Ah! Snack!” he exclaimed, trying to take the candy.

Ginny shook her head “Not yet, we need to go to the other houses now”

“Snack!” he protested.

“But if we go to the next house we’ll get you more candy,” she explained.

Draco, however, frowned, it wasn’t usual for Ginny to be like that, from the start of the day she’d been way more agitated than normal, and at first, he thought she just really liked Halloween, but looking at it now, there was something more, she was awful at hiding her emotional state and something was bothering her.

Harry looked at him for help and he smiled “A compromise then? One candy, our last offer”

Harry smiled and dived for the nearest candy while Ginny glared at him instead, he wanted to ask why she was acting so strangely but she quickly turned and continued on the path of the next house.

“Trick or treat?”

This time Harry eagerly presented his bag, eyes shining and waiting for his snack, appeased by the promise of more. Ginny wanted to be happy, it fit her idea of Harry’s perfect first Halloween and yet it only made her sullen, and _that_ only made her mad at herself, making it all worse.

They went around the neighbourhood, Harry giggling at his bag, although it wasn’t very big Draco had enchanted it so it could hold more and the toddler had liked that, humming to himself in between houses. Draco and Ginny however were oddly silent, Ginny going even as far as avoiding Draco’s eyes on her the entire time.

Despite Draco’s worries from before, people didn’t seem to mind their mismatched costumes, they even received some compliments at some houses, although some kids had passed them by, giggling at the teenagers in costumes. Sometimes other people would stop and congratulate them on having a cute child, mostly other parents with their kids and Harry would hide himself on Ginny, causing even more compliments from them.

A man and a woman approached them like that, it would probably be the same but Draco was more than happy keeping his hand close enough to his wand so he could take it at a moment’s notice.

“Oh! Hello, we saw you and we had to say come here, you have such a cute child, we never saw such a costume before” the woman, dressed as, Draco supposed, a waitress.

Ginny thought it a strange sentence, she may have been a muggle for only a year but she knew enough about money to know that what they were wearing was cheap and easy to find, Harry most costumy part was his hat, whereas the rest were just parts of his normal clothes.

“Our children are all grown up now, it must be great for you, still in that cute phase, our eldest once even brought home a frog, so stylish” her husband, a plumber?, added wistfully.

“Thanks, I guess?” Ginny answered, having grown up hearing how _out_ of style frogs were, she thought they were the strangest people they had met that night.

“Of course, now that You-Know-Who is gone, it sure is freeing being able to just travel,” the woman said to her husband just as Ginny and Draco paled.

“What did you just say?” Draco asked, fighting to maintain control of his voice and state, no wonder the two hadn’t felt like muggles.

“Oh my, forgot I was talking to muggles” the woman giggled, forgetting to mask her words or hide her mistake in any way.

Her husband noticed but just shook his head, indulging her, thinking there was nothing that needed hiding, after all, why would a muggle care of their curious words for one night?

But they _were_ wizards, and they had to leave, immediately.

Putting himself in front of Ginny and Harry, Draco smiled politely “I’m not sure what you mean Madam, but we need to go, children never think there is enough candy, no?”

The woman smiled back, pleased with his manners “Of course, children should be happy on a day like this, after last year, this is a delightful day”

Ginny felt her heart throb, but they had to go away so she couldn’t stop, she tried to run but Draco held her arm, it would be suspicious if they suddenly changed pace like that.

The man seemed to notice something and quickly reached them.

“Sorry, it just seems that your son has something on his forehea--” Ginny pulled Harry’s hat lower, almost covering his eyes, she tried to go for a smile but her heart was beating too fast and Draco had to intervene again.

“Thank you! We hadn’t noticed before” and continued walking.

The man looked at his wife and they shrugged, muggles were very strange indeed.

Ginny and Draco on the other hand didn’t stop even when they were safely away from the couple.

“We need to get home”

“Yes”

Ginny sighed in relief once they finally closed the door of their flat, where they would safely be away from any sudden wizard on holiday, she put Harry on the ground, watching him squeal at his bag and run towards “his corner” and Ginny was about to relax until she remembered it also meant they didn’t get to finish their night.

“Well that was a way for this day to go” she whispered brusquely.

She turned towards Draco, who was in the process of removing his hat and eye-patch.

“Draco!”

He turned to look at her, his eyes adjusting to the light.

Ginny smiled “If we make some paper bats you can animate them no?” she turned around the room, thinking of where to put every decoration “Maybe if we put some here, I could make a punch maybe? And--”

But looking at her now, still avoiding his eyes, had Draco fed up.

“We need to talk,” he said, standing in front of her.

Ginny just turned “Why, anything to add to the decoration?”

She said it casually but he could see she was stiff and defensive.

“What is wrong with you today?” he said, more harshly than he intended.

Of course she'd react to being accused, so Ginny glared at him, a small victory he supposed, at least she was looking at him now.

“There is nothing wrong with me” she replied, tone low “And I don’t see why it should bother you”

He shook his head “Getting upset at Harry for wanting something was truly unusual from you, of course, it would bother me, I should know you enough by now to see that you’re not right”

“Upset? I wasn’t upset! I just wanted for him to wait, that way he’d have more and it would be more fun” she defended herself.

“And usually you would be able to handle that” he replied, crossing his arms.

Ginny opened her mouth then closed it again a few times before saying “Well, I had to say something, how could he have the perfect Halloween otherwise?”

“The perfect Halloween?”

Draco watched as Ginny bit her lip, realizing she too much.

His eyes and voice softened “Ginny”

She turned her eyes away but he gently put the back of his finger on her cheek, turning her towards him again, noticing how she trembled, eyes downcast.

“I just wanted it to be perfect, because of what happened today, if only... maybe Harry...” she said, arms around herself, her eyes watery “It wasn’t supposed to be us”

Draco sighed, finally understanding he pulled her close, his hand running through her hair. Ginny let herself melt into the hug, softly crying into his shirt, it hurt to think they couldn’t save the Potters even a year later, even as Draco soothed her, Ginny felt that a corner of her heart would always feel she was stealing someone else’s life.

Draco for his part could only hold her, it was the difference between the two of them, to him it was something gone that he couldn’t change anymore, they didn’t know the spell, or combination of spells, that brought them there, and now he wasn’t sure he’d be able to give up on their family.

"We are all he has now, we may not be the perfect family but that was never the answer"

Ginny let out a small laugh, smiling even as she buried her face in his chest, she joked “I shouldn't be hearing this from you"

Draco smiled.

_You aren't, can't you see the person I am thanks to you?_

“Happy first year, Ginny”

He felt her smile, and even when Harry approached he didn’t completely let her go, the toddler smiled at “Mama and Dada” and handed them some of his candy, they smiled and thanked him, happy that he helped Harry turned back to his toys, leaving them smiling at each other.

“Happy first year, Draco”

Looking into his bright eyes, Ginny thought:

_You two are truly my future._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mr. Weasley:** Never trust a Malfoy, Ginny  
>  **A Malfoy:** I'm just saying these mass-produced costumes are not quite up to my standards  
> Happy belated Halloween! Because Halloween is forever in our hearts!  
> (I actually like Christmas better, but that's just because none of my countries does anything interesting on Halloween, still love the aesthetic tho)  
> Hahaha, I'd imagine wizards would find interesting muggle's diy costumes and that's why they were approached XD  
> Uuughhh, when I first wrote this chapter I realized it just didn't fit with anything and I just scraped it all D: Hope this second version is better! Next chapter will be longer ;3  
> On another topic, when I posted this story I left the rating blank because I wasn't sure I would be able to write smut, and I am still not sure I can write smut, so I ask, do you want me to attempt or should I just make this T and (eventually) imply their relationship turned sexual? (To be fair, I envisioned this as mostly fluff, so there wouldn't be much smut)
> 
> p.s: I'll be adding the first chapter of At the Beginning Again later today! Enjoy :D


	24. A Day At Work

“Hewitt!”

Draco turned, he was making some photocopies when his co-worker, and he was pretty sure his name was Todd, called him.

“Yes?”

The other man smiled “So, tomorrow, I need to take care of one of our clients but another had a last-minute schedule and I couldn’t refuse,” Draco just stared at him, so he continued “And considering you are... you”

_Translation, the youngest with less experience and murky studies_ , Draco thought, he never liked Possibly Todd, in the office, he was by far the most annoying and Draco was tempted to just jinx his coffee.

Draco sighed “I’ll take the client”

“I knew we’d see eye to eye, the name is Eira Lynn” and left, to Draco happiness.

“You shouldn’t just accept that, Rodric is an ass,” his other co-worker said after watching the scene unfold.

Draco shrugged, he didn’t care for Apparently Not Todd that much “I don’t want trouble.”

“You have a kid, right?”

Draco hesitated, opening and closing his mouth before setting on answering:

“Yeah, something like that”

Sitting on the couch Ginny observed Draco finishing some of his leftover work, watching him concentrate on the numbers and double-checking his answers so he wouldn’t miss any detail, she liked doing so when it was late and things winded down, Harry was playing, not intent on running crazy around the flat, and she could still make sure he wouldn’t hurt himself.

The small moment were her favourites.

“I’ve been thinking,” Ginny said, looking at Draco organizing his papers for the next day.

“Your ideas are usually dangerous,” he joked, putting away his last reports and turning to look at her.

She smiled mischievously, not even trying to deny it, “What if, Harry and I, visit you at work tomorrow?”

Draco thought about it “I’m not sure you are allowed, I would need to talk it with Mr. Morys first, so tomorrow would be out”

Ginny pouted, she had thought of visiting for weeks, curious to see a muggle office, her father would’ve been enthusiast, that made her giggle, her father would find her whole new life fascinating, in its own way it was a happy thought, even if he would never know who she really was.

Draco sat beside her and she took the opportunity to lay her legs over his lap, smirking at him, he shook his head but let himself be used as a footrest.

“Of course, Mr. Morys is someone with a... soft heart, I can’t imagine he would turn away a visiting family,” he began as if he was just thinking of a possibility before being actually serious “As long as they don’t cause trouble”

“Done!” she exclaimed, hugging him.

Ginny stared at the building in front of her and smiled, bouncing Harry on her hip she whispered

“Ready for looking like we were just casually passing by?”

Harry nodded and clapped, not really sure what she meant but he understood he’d be seeing his dad and was excited.

“Good” she kissed his cheek and they went to the door.

She opened the door and was quickly met with a very short man, even for Ginny that had never been particularly tall, but he smiled and was generally very friendly when greeting her.

“Are you Porter Morys?” Ginny asked, trying to be casual and smiling.

“Indeed I am,” he said, “And you are?”

Ginny extended her free hand “I’m Virginia Hewitt”

“Hewitt? Oh, so you are David’s wife?” the man said jovially and Ginny blushed.

She cursed herself for reacting that way, they had established that long ago, it didn’t _need_ to mean anything, and her heart shouldn’t get so giddy.

Pushing away that feeling, she returned the moment and smiled.

“Yes,” she explained, “We were around, seeing a friend and thought of visiting!”

The man then looked at Harry and his smile widened.

“Then this must be your little boy” Harry smiled and waved, to the delight of the man “So adorable, with such a cute family it’s no wonder he needed the job”

Ginny nodded, sensing her moment.

“We were actually wondering if we could see David, you see, Harry quite misses his father,” she said, her voice lowering as if she was worried “Don’t you, Harry?”

Harry looked at her and she indicated the hallway where other voices could be heard, the child looked and seemed to hear something because he exclaimed “Dada!”

Ginny grinned, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Mr. Morys laughed and said “Well, it’s not of me to separate families! Just don’t interrupt his work too much, he is one of my best employees after all” then he winked and returned to where Ginny presumed was his office.

“Perfect job, Harry!” the child didn’t know why but took the praise.

Smirking she walked toward the door she heard the voices coming from.

“Gavin! You gave me the wrong reports again, at least two months here make no sense”

Ginny couldn’t help but giggle, she recognized that tone, Draco used it a lot in school when talking to Crabbe and Goyle, it seemed that some habits just didn’t change.

She entered the room, Draco was standing with his back to her, talking with the man Gavin.

From their talks she remembered he had three co-workers at that moment, the one he talking to, a man of around 30, had mousy brown hair, the second was Conner, a dirty blond that currently was laughing at the scene, and the third she had no idea the name of, Draco told a different one every time they talked, but the man was in his own corner, shaking his head and preparing for something.

“You need to fix them before the next clients, understood?” Draco said and Gavin nodded, sweating profusely under his glare.

“Daa!”

Draco turned, looking at them he felt his body relax and he smiled at his trouble duo.

He approached them, Harry opened his arms to be picked up and Ginny rolled her eyes, not that Draco couldn’t see her smiling, he would’ve teased her, but the toddler was demanding his attention so he just took the boy instead.

“Sooo, still very commanding” she joked, fixing his tie now that her hands were free.

“Gavin? Gavin knows he deserves it, don’t you Gavin?” they turned to look at the man, that, agitated at being called, just nodded frantically “Just casual work”

“I suppose a leopard can’t change its spots” she teased him.

Draco laughed “What would I do with my pride if I let you turn me too good?”

Ginny was about to reply but was interrupted.

“She already married you, Hewitt,” said the third man rolling his eyes “You don’t need to flirt wherever you like” it seemed he had finished preparing and was leaving “Also, don’t forget the client”

“I wasn’t about to” Draco replied politely, although his eyes were stone cold.

“Until later then,” and the man left.

Draco sighed, reminding himself that cursing the man would worse for him.

_Were we really flirting?_ Ginny wondered, blushing madly.

“Anyway,” Draco said, turning towards her and Ginny did her best to appear normal “Are you content, finally seeing the office?”

“It’s bigger than my dad’s for sure” she joked while he led them to his desk.

“I’m fairly sure most offices are bigger than your dad’s,” Draco said, thinking back to what he knew of Arthur Weasley’s job.

Ginny laughed, he had a point, the Ministry just didn’t care about Muggle safety as her father did.

“Hello!” said Conner, his desk being the closest to Draco “We were wondering if we’d ever see the elusive family”

“He’s terrible with other people, I know,” Ginny said, feeling Draco’s glare.

Conner laughed “And you have a very cute kid, didn’t know you bleached your hair, David”

“I don--” Draco sighed and let it go, might as well let the man believe that.

Even if he’d get his vengeance on Ginny for laughing... maybe.

Hearing the front door open, Draco turned towards the entrance “I think this should be Lynn, I’ll go see” and handed back Harry, who pouted.

Conner was about to make another joke, it seemed that differently from David’s mostly aloof personality, his wife quite enjoyed fun, but he found that she wasn’t paying attention, focused on the door instead, eyes shining.

He smiled, David seemed to have a very loving family.

“This way please”

Draco entered the room followed by his client, a tall woman with long black hair.

The woman stumbled and held onto Draco for support, it made Ginny frown, the way the woman’s hand lingered on his chest as she thanked him, voice low and sugary, the woman almost reminded Ginny of Pansy. Perhaps if she was calmer, Ginny would be able to say the woman was quite beautiful, but she could feel a familiar feeling simmering inside, and it made her see the woman as no better than the Pug.

“So you’ll be taking my case from now?” the woman asked smiling.

“For as long as my colleague is busy, yes” Draco replied.

_Maybe I should do peach pie for dessert_ Ginny thought, not that it stopped her from glaring at the two.

“If you do a good job, I might just keep you”

Ginny was seething, the woman really dared to giggle.

“I hope to be satisfactory then”

_Peach pie laced with poison_ was in Ginny’s new to-do list.

Draco looked at his desk, facing a furious Ginny. He was sure she was perfectly happy, even joking around, what had changed that in the time he was out?

The woman gave a brief look at Harry and Ginny, raising her eyebrow she said “I didn’t know there was another accountant here”

Draco turned to explain when he felt Ginny’s hand on his arm, that would have been distracting enough on its own but for whatever reason, she decided on crushing his arm in the process.

“No, I don’t work here, I’m David’s _wife_ ” if a smile could kill, that would be it for Eira, Draco couldn’t understand what was wrong.

“Ah,” the woman’s eyes widened, before looking her up and down, her height making it easy “Couldn’t tell”

Draco took Harry from Ginny, she seemed about to explode and it was best if the child was distracted, he knew her temper, so he gave some spare pens and paper to the confused Harry.

“Mrs. Lynn, please--” he tried to intervene, Draco was sure it wouldn’t end well for Eira if she picked a fight with Ginny.

“Miss,” was her reply instead, smiling at him “It’s Miss Lynn”

Draco blanched, he could feel the static and he knew it was Ginny losing control of her magic.

“Very well, Miss Lynn, sit here, I will be back soon” he explained briefly before taking Ginny out of the room.

It didn’t help much, she was glaring at him with her arms crossed and Draco wouldn’t put impaling above her in that state.

“You can’t use magic on my clients” he tried to say as calmly as he could.

Ginny scoffed “Me? Ha! What about you? Isn’t she too old for you? I suppose she does look like Pansy”

Draco sighed, that was on him, he never spoke on how little he had been attracted by Pansy “As far as everyone is concerned, I’m nineteen remember, not that--”

“Nineteen? Oh, so you do realize how she was looking at you!” she exclaimed and Draco groaned, he wasn’t supposed to make her even angrier.

“Ginny, she’s a client, I _have to_ be kind to her,” he said, holding her arms “What do you think of me? That I’ll just up and leave you and Harry? That’s impossible”

“Leave?!” she exclaimed in outrage.

“Is that all that you heard?!”

“You brought it up!” she defended herself.

“Yes! Because you are not listening to me!” Draco exclaimed.

“Ugh! You are impossible!” Ginny raged, grabbing the side of his face.

Ginny quietened, and now that she wasn’t accusing him he could focus on her movements, just gently touching his cheek, fingers brushing his neck, Draco knew that witch would drive him insane one of those days, the question was only on how.

She barely realized what she was doing, they were so close, she couldn’t help but realize, Ginny even forgot the woman on the other side of the door, focused only on Draco instead, if she stood on her tiptoes then they would...

Ginny took a few steps back, the two of them sporting matching blushes, her anger vanishing.

“I think,” she cleared her throat, “I think I should get Harry, and... and just let you work and, uhm, stuff”

Draco grabbed her wrist before she could enter the door.

“I’m not interested in her,” he said earnestly.

Ginny turned away from him, but couldn’t help smiling.

A few hours later, Ginny had her head buried in the couch, completely embarrassed now that her anger was gone. She had always been a petty jealous, and now she felt like screaming.

_I looked like a madwoman_ she thought, sighing _I was so jealous_.

Ginny sat back on the couch, pushing her hair out of her eyes she stared at the wall, the fact that she couldn’t even deny that it could be nothing but jealousy was upsetting. What was she supposed to say to Draco? _I know we are not really married but I don’t want you near any other girl_?

Merlin, that sounded like a disaster.

“Mama?”

She smiled at the toddler, unfortunate victim of her pettiness, she had originally planned for them to get ice cream after Draco got off but instead she just had to get mad about an overly flirtatious client.

“Want to make peach pie?” she asked gently and Harry smiled, raising his hands.

Draco opened the door, hoping the caramel biscuits he’d bought on the way home was enough.

Ginny was on the ground, helping Harry colour his new drawing, his trouble duo was at it’s most peaceful now, by far his best chance.

“I have a peace offering”

He held up the bag, watching as Ginny looked up at him and blushing.

She truly looked like a tomato but it didn’t stop him from finding it adorable, it seemed a lifetime away from the time when he thought her hair was ugly, now he couldn’t even remember why he’d think that.

Ginny smiled before dashing somewhere, coming back with something behind her back.

“Actually, I have something too” and she handed him his gift.

The present was a framed photo of the three of them, taken a few days after her birthday.

“This way you can keep it on your desk or something” she shrugged, not sounding nearly as casual as she wanted to.

But Draco knew that at that point, he didn’t mind at all.

“Also we made pie!”

“So you have a really jealous girl, huh,” Conner asked Draco the next day, looking as he placed the photo and Harry’s drawing on the corner of his desk.

Draco smirked.

“Seems so”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Me writing this chapter:** Draco doesn't care enough to remember the guy's name, _Apparently Not Todd_ *eternal giggles*  
> I don't know anything about accounting XD  
> Draco: I don't want trouble *a few moments later* Draco: You fucking idiot!  
> Hahahahahah, my bad, I liked too much both scenes, just imagine Gavin doesn't mind and Rodric would be too bothersome XD  
> And here it is!! Noooow it's jealousy ;D I had so much fun writing this chapter (the pettiness is sending me) hope you guys like it too!  
> Also, as you have seen, changed the rating to T, so thanks guy for helping me with this!


	25. Happier Now

“He’s truly better now, right?” Ginny asked.

Mrs. Rees that had arrived to spend the holidays with her eldest son, smiled and shook her head. Little Harry had been sick a few days before and as many new parents, the Hewitts had been terrified and unsure of what to do, she had helped them but they still were apprehensive at times. It made her feel as if she was a grandmother twice.

“He recovered perfectly,” she gently told the girl “As long as he is covered up properly, a bit of Christmas shopping won’t be a problem, it will probably cheer him up!”

Ginny looked undecided but decided to trust the older woman.

“Are you coming too, Dr- David?” she asked Draco, seeing as he was already putting on his jacket.

“No, I need to pick something, I’ll let my present be a surprise” he joked.

Smiling he said goodbye to Harry, with a last check to see if the fever hadn’t returned, before turning towards Ginny and stalled. How was he supposed to say goodbye, it had never been a problem before, but things were changing so much between them that Draco didn’t always know how to behave when he was near Ginny.

“Then I might just buy you a sweater” he felt her arms sneak around his neck, almost hugging him.

Draco went pink but played along “Not even you would be so cruel”

“See you later then,” Ginny said, really hugging him this time.

After his goodbye to Mrs. Rees, he was gone.

Ginny sighed, she had hoped they would go shopping together. Resigned, she picked up Harry, ready to give him as little chance of getting cold as she could and just in time being stopped by Mrs. Rees from overwhelming the toddler with too many layers of clothing.

The mall was covered in Christmas decorations, festive songs playing in the background, it all made Ginny realize how much she had gotten used to being a muggle. Last Christmas had been so different.

Draco had a job, once Harry started preschool she planned on searching for a job of her own, they actually could afford presents now, and while the lack of her family traditions was sad, she was way happier this year.

And her relationship with Draco was better too.

Ginny blushed thinking about it, last christmas they had been walking on eggshells around each other, and now they were in such a strange position, her feelings were getting so strong and driving her mad, they were happy, couldn’t her heart be satisfied?

“Where do you want to start dear?” Mrs. Rees asked gently.

“Well, I need something for David and Harry,” Ginny listed “and I was thinking of getting something for Daisy too”

“Then let’s start with the children” the older woman nodded “Do you agree Harry?”

“Yea!” the toddler exclaimed, already pulling Ginny towards the toy’s section.

The two laughed and followed him.

“Mama, here!” and showed her a character from his cartoons but got distracted by another toy on the other aisle “This one!” before showing up, holding two stuffed animals.

Ginny smiled and picked the toddler “I’m sorry Harry, but Mama can only get you one, you’ll need to choose”

“Make it two, I’ll buy the other” Mrs. Rees smiled and received a hug from the boy.

Once he was back on the floor he ran around trying to pick which ones he liked best. Shaking her head Ginny continued walking, looking for something for Daisy that was now a toddler too.

“He’s quite happy now, cheered him up,” Mrs. Rees remarked “Christmas air is always a great thing”

Ginny nodded before jokingly adding “It’s the promise of toys”

Mrs. Rees laughed, taking a look at the girl beside her she couldn’t help but add “You are happier too, since last year”

Ginny blushed, her thoughts from earlier returning full force she tried a simpler answer “Last year things were so uncertain, I feel happier now”

“And your eyes were shining looking at David when he left” the woman gave a little laugh, lost in her own scenarios again “You two are really in love, so adorable”

Ginny didn’t need a mirror to tell her she was probably the same colour as her hair.

Friendship? Absolutely. Trust? Certainly. Crush? Probably.

But love? Was she in love with Draco?

It had seemed something so impossible before and yet... Ginny just wasn’t sure if she was ready to put a name to that feeling, even if the longer it went, the more she felt it overwhelmed her, after all, the fact that she wanted him near and missed him when he wasn’t there, or the fact that she liked his sense of humour and how he looked when he concentrated on his work or how much she thought about his eyes being stunning, none of that had to mean she was in love, no?

So she shook her head and left those feelings to be analyzed another day.

“Mama!” Harry appeared so she thankfully didn’t have to answer.

“This!” and handed her his chosen toy, holding his second in front of him.

She took the toy and ruffled his hair “Want to choose your dad’s present?”

The boy beamed and agreed.

The three searched for a gift for Daisy before moving on to the others, Mrs. Rees chose a polo shirt for Benjamin and a new pair of jeans for Iwan because, in her words, the boy never had decent pants, it made Ginny laugh, glad for the woman presence.

“Gwen wants to visit Paris,” Mrs. Rees commented, remembering her last conversation with her daughter-in-law “She read a book set there and can’t wait to see the city”

“I’ve never been to France, I went to Egypt once with my family,” Ginny said, thinking back to her brother.

Mrs. Rees frowned “The same family that left you alone with a baby”

“Let’s not think about that!” Ginny said with a sheepish smile, Fred and George would have a great day making fun of the situation she created, it was a bit comical if she focused on that.

“Of course dear” thankfully, Mrs. Rees just thought it was hurtful to her “Anyway, Gwen is trying to learn French, I love the girl but she is just terrible at it”

Ginny laughed “Dr- David knows French" she commented, thinking back at what Draco had told her.

"Really?" Mrs. Rees asked, finding it interesting.

"Yeah, he's posh like that" Ginny smiled, Draco was such a rich kid, he apparently had to learn all those other languages before even entering Hogwarts, she was surprised he hadn’t blown up before.

“That accent is so pretty, would love to hear it one of these days,” Mrs. Rees said.

Ginny bit her lip “So would I”

Draco opened the box and begun his preparation.

Last christmas he’d been so uncertain about his life, there was still much that he didn’t know but he had found a ground to stand on and things he never wanted to change.

It was Ginny he thought about as he placed the new decorations, he wanted to make this Christmas better than it had been when he had proclaimed they weren’t a family. He never wanted to go back to those days, when he had felt so alone and lost.

_What would you tell me now father?_

Draco sighed, he hated the part of him that would always search for his father’s scant approval, hadn’t it learned its lesson? Hadn’t he learned? He could see better now.

He thought of Ginny and Harry, it didn’t matter if his father hated him, Draco had his family now, away from his father’s teachings, only after letting go of his illusions about Lucius had Draco been able to get up. He was happier now.

Draco picked up the little plastic tree Ginny's stubbornness made him buy on Christmas day and smiled.

_I choose them, father._

He heard them arriving and turned off the lights.

“And thenCeri had to get him away from the cat, his face was all scratched, what a way to meet” Mrs. Rees talked and he could hear Ginny laugh, as they had planned.

Draco smiled, seeing Ginny distractedly entering the house focused on the other woman, he wondered if she would like the surprise.

Ginny barely turned around when she noticed out of the corner of her eyes.

“Tree!”

She exclaimed, mouth open, letting the presents fall to the ground without realizing.

“Well, a certain someone seems to believe it isn’t Christmas without a tree,” he said, getting out of the shadows “So I had to get one this year”

“Do you like it dear?” Mrs. Rees smiled, picking up Harry a showing him the tree.

“You knew?” Ginny asked surprised.

“Of course, if he didn’t I would’ve bought it myself!” the woman said, grinning.

Ginny looked closer at the decorations, the muggle lights weren’t fairies but she could barely tell, she thought Draco might have used magic to hide the wires, the decorations weren’t grand as the ones in Hogwarts but they weren’t the ones she remembered from the Burrow either, every part of it, she couldn’t not admire.

And right there, close to the star, she saw the plastic tree he’d bought the year before.

Ginny smiled.

That tree was nobody’s else but theirs.

She felt Draco’s arms circle her waist, hugging her from behind.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“It’s perfect,” she told him sincerely “We finally have our tree”

They admired their tree, ready for their new Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muahahahaha, this story is passing novella length, I'm kind of proud (Novellas are usually 10,000 to 40,000 words)  
> Gotta say, did not expect to release this chapter this soon, I wanted to have Harry's first fever as it's own chapter, but it just wasn't working, so I decided, oh well, chapter 25, Christmas, makes sense. So yeah, Christmas! Because I can't seem to place the holidays accordingly XD  
> Next chapter... huuuum, I think next chapter will be quite interesting >;3  
> (AtBA new chapter should not take too long either, inspiration on this one just hit too hard)


	26. I Love You

Cold.

She was so cold. She was freezing. She couldn’t feel her body and it was so cold it felt like burning.

Water.

There was water around her. It felt like it was trying to drag her under but she couldn’t trust her senses. She wasn’t sure what she could actually trust, not even her own mind was safe, drifting away, destroyed by cruel laughter.

Dying.

She was dying. She was dying. She was dying.

Ginny woke up in cold sweat, struggling to steady her breath and trying to focus hard on the fact that she was alive, still alive.

Muffling a sob she looked to her right, Harry was sprawled in the bed with one little hand holding onto her pillow while the other kept close to Draco’s sleeve, one of his legs sticking out of the covers. Ginny quickly covered him again, her body still trembling.

She tried looking at Draco, but in the dark his pallor made him look awfully like a ghost and her body retched stopping just short of actually vomiting, leaving just the awful feeling of something stuck in her throat, the fear of their deaths suffocating her, she had to get out of the room.

She paced the living room, unable to stop herself from crying she focused on breathing and thought to herself.

_I am alive. They are alive. We are alive. We are alive. We are alive..._

Her legs gave away and she sat in front of the Christmas tree.

She had been so happy when she saw it, Ginny hated that her nightmares had to ruin that for her, why did it have to return now?

Her nightmares had been almost constant the summer after the diary, they got better with time but never really went away, a constant presence she learned to deal with, she wasn’t sure why this one hit so hard all of the sudden.

Ginny remembered that her mother’s boggart had been the death of her family, was that why her nightmares had returned with such a force? Was she scared of losing her family? But they were safe now.

_It won’t stay that way forever._

The terrible voice in her mind whispered leaving her no choice but to think about it.

She knew Voldemort was not gone forever, she knew exactly when he’d return really, she knew they’d be put on the line through the years to come, but couldn’t she enjoy their time and the family they created?

_I am alive. They are alive. We are alive._

She repeated, trying to calm herself when she heard the door open.

With the light of the tree shining over him, Draco seemed less of a ghost and it made Ginny want to run and hug him, feel his warmth, and be sure he was still alive.

“I woke you up? Sorry,” she asked standing up and drying her tears.

“You didn’t come back,” he said, getting closer to her.

Ginny avoided his eyes, she still felt like bursting into tears and she hated how weak she felt, especially lately after Halloween, she had never wanted to feel this weak again.

“You’re a mess did you know that Weasley?”

Ginny was about to reply shocked and offended, when she finally looked at him she realized he was teasing her so that she wouldn’t turn away. _Stupid, Slytherin_.

“That was so underhanded” she pouted, making him laugh.

Draco smiled, taking her hand he pulled her close, hugging her. He loved just holding her like that, not minding being used to make her feel better.

Ginny let him hold her, they had been so close lately, his heartbeat became her focus and she let it relax her, the steady reminder of his life pushing away the cruel voice whispering tragedies in her mind.

“You’re so protective, Malfoy” she whispered, trying to play along.

“I would do anything for my family” she looked up, his eyes were like steel but not a danger for her, they had begun not knowing if they could trust each other and now she was sure he would do anything for her safety.

_I want to kiss you right now._

Ginny sighed, staring at his lips, his warmth around her she felt she would just do that, but she didn’t think Draco stood where she stood yet, it would be confusing for both of them if she did kiss him.

So she just let herself be protected from the ghost of her past, a ghost he could understand better than anyone else, their scars not visible like Harry’s.

“We can stop that from ever happening, you know” he whispered into her hair.

She smiled, her heart beating for a completely different reason now, “We can’t”

“Why not, could land my father in prison sooner,” Ginny laughed, the Draco from a year ago would have never dared to make such a joke.

“That thing, its diary, it has to go,” she told Draco, focusing on his scent “Whatever it is, it has to be destroyed and tried, I did, but only Harry succeeded”

Draco grimaced, “He’ll have to fight a basilisk, if we can keep him from danger...”

“We won’t ever be able to,” Ginny said, her worries laid bare “And I trust him to save, well, me”

She looked into his eyes, back to that particular shade of grey, so bright, that Ginny loved so much.

“And I trust us to raise him.”

Draco bit his lip, unsure he said “What if... I’m more similar to my father than I think? What if I mess up?”

Ginny smiled, from being consoled to consoling, she laid her hand on his cheek, caressing him. Pages of books, talking about love and heroes, none of them prepared her for someone that was nothing like those heroes and she thought she wanted it even more.

“It will be all about our choices,” she said, gently playing with his hair “You are not Lucius”

He kissed her forehead, making her blush, the sudden action almost making her forget what started the night in the first place. It was only them now.

“And you are not the diary,” he told her.

What Ginny felt in that moment she would not be able to describe, they told her about love, about the other half of her but that felt so much different from any of that, Draco wasn’t filling some missing part of her but he showed her the pieces of herself that made her whole. He was nothing like what she had imagined and so much more than she had hoped for.

She had worried so long about her feelings for so long, without realizing she had already fallen.

Because now she had no more doubts, Ginny Weasley was completely in love with Draco Malfoy.

“Thank you Draco” she whispered, not trusting herself to speak louder than that.

He smiled and Ginny couldn’t breathe “Let’s go back to bed, I sure Harry will be searching for us soon”

Ginny nodded and let him lead her to the bed, him closer to the door and her on the other side of Harry, closer to the window. They looked at each other for a long time, eventually the sleepiness made Draco fall asleep, but Ginny looked just a little longer, trying to remember when exactly she fell for such a complicated man, but there was no single moment she could think as the one, she just knew she loved him.

_I am alive. They are alive. We are alive._

She was safe, alive to be there with her boys.

She had survived the chamber and she could survive whatever came next.

“I love you”

Draco felt someone pinching him, the morning light hurting his eyes as he shook off the drowsiness.

“Dada!” Harry said again, pushing his little hands on Draco’s chest.

“What?” he asked before yawning.

“Hungy” the toddler said, “Mama not waking”

Draco worried for a moment but Ginny looked perfectly fine, breathing gently into her pillow, her hand extended so it would be close to him and Harry as they slept.

Draco smiled and then turned to Harry “She’s tired, let’s let her sleep, okay”

The toddler nodded and asked to be picked up for breakfast.

Later would come, but for now, Draco let her sleep in the comfort of dreams that didn’t involve giant snakes and hidden rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did say I wanted Ginny to discover she was in love first no? ;)  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter, it won't be long for Draco to come around now! If I do everything correctly, next chapter will be one I have been waiting to write for a long time! I'm excited! Hopefully, I didn't set next chapter's expectations too high XD (It's not the confession yet!)


	27. Mad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Songs for this chapter Style - Postmodern Jukebox (I might prefer it to the original Taylor Swift XD) and La vie en rose - Edith Piaff

Things had been different those days.

Draco couldn’t quite put his finger on what, however.

On the surface everything was as it ever had been, he was free for the winter holidays so he could spend his days at home, they would have breakfast in the morning and Harry wanted to watch the cartoons on the telly, then it was lunch and they usually went into town afterwards, especially after they found a park not too far from where they lived, before returning home and eat dinner. Fairly simple, if he didn’t count Ginny.

She tried to be casual and her usual self but it was never quite right.

She’d avoid his eyes and when they talked she would try to be normal but it was hard not to notice how she’d blush every time he got too close, when she did let him get close that is, it seemed that every touch from him would burn her and she’d rush away from him. Sometimes he had the impression she kept their schedule as full as she could to stay away from him.

It was frustrating and at that point Draco felt like a dog desperate for her attention.

_Just look at me! It’s not like I’m going to bite you or whatever!_

He thought as Ginny once more turned around the kitchen so that she wouldn’t look at him while they prepared lunch together, the kitchen wasn’t even big enough for her to turn that many times!

“Gin--” he was about to ask her for the bowl, gently placing his hand on her waist, when she once again jumped away from him.

“Ah! Draco! Hum, I need,” she tried to explain her retreat as usual, red as a tomato “I was thinking of inviting Mrs Rees for lunch, so, hum, you can finish that, and I will, yeah, go now”

Draco watched her leave and sighed. He’d been replaced by an old woman.

“Where diwd Mama go?” Harry asked, at least he still faced him when talking.

“She ran,” Draco explained, getting the bloody bowl “She didn’t think we were funny enough”

Harry’s eyes widened in worry, holding his teddy bear tighter “I am fun! Please!”

Draco smiled and picked the boy up “I’m joking, she just went to ask Mrs Rees for lunch, you like Mrs Rees no?”

“So Mama not going away?” the boy asked and Draco shook his head, using his wand to move what he couldn’t reach with Harry on his arm “Then yea! I like Misses Rees”

“Good, your mother loves to use her as a shield from me” he muttered, still unhappy with Ginny.

“Why?” Harry asked, trying to understand what had upset his father.

Draco sighed “I don’t know! That girl was made to drive me mad”

Harry turned his head to the side, confused “Is that bad?”

Draco looked at the boy and couldn’t help but smile.

“Not really”

“Then, it was an alien!” Harry exclaimed and Mrs Rees listened attentively to him telling the plot of the film they had seen some weeks before, making Ginny smile.

Bringing Mrs Rees to lunch or dinner was always a great idea, keeping both Harry and herself distracted, that way the toddler had more people to interact and she didn’t have to think about her pseudo husband.

She knew he had been trying to get her attention and she wanted to hate him for it, did he really need to touch her so much? Before in the kitchen when he had his hand on her waist he had been so close she felt his breathing on her skin when he spoke to her, did he have no idea what it did to her heart? Stupid git.

Ginny groaned internally, banishing the less than pure thoughts that Draco caused to the recesses of her mind, it was supposed to be a normal family dinner for heaven’s sake.

“Ginny?” thinking of the devil.

“Huh?” she asked, taking another bite of the food avoiding looking at him even as she felt his glare on her, his eyes were the enemies of her sanity.

Mrs Rees smiled and repeated herself “I asked if you had plans for tomorrow”

Ginny swallowed the food and thought about it, the next day would be new years eve, did they had planned anything?

“Not really, just watch the fireworks really” she answered shrugging.

“Fire?” Harry asked curiously, feet dangling on the chair.

Ginny smiled and explained, “Yeah, it goes up and then BOOM!”

The boy giggled “Fun!”

Mrs Rees also smiled, but hers was a mysterious one as she told them her idea “Then I was planning on inviting you two to a party, I thought you would enjoy it, it’s nothing fancy really, just some music”

“That is interesting,” Draco said and Ginny tried to glare him from the corner of her eyes.

“But we don’t have anyone to leave Harry with” she refused, usually she was the one that agreed while he tried to refuse, what was he planning?

“Oh, no need to worry,” Mrs Rees said, “I will gladly be nearby with him, you two are so young, you deserve some fun!”

“I think it’s a great idea” she could feel the smirk in his tone.

Ginny looked at herself on the mirror, she didn’t have a dress for the party so she repurposed her witch costume into something more resembling normal clothes, it wasn’t perfect but it was what she had. It would’ve been better if Draco had just refused the invitation as usual.

She peeked into the living room, Mrs Rees was holding Harry while conversing calmly with Draco and Ginny wanted to kill him even more, who told him he had the right to wear his stupid button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, was he even aware of it? Sometimes he seemed so aware and others so incapable of seeing his effect on her.

She was in love with someone that made her half-mad.

Taking a deep breath she opened the door, the three turned towards her and she focused on Mrs Rees.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said smiling “It’s your party, we will stay with Harry”

The woman, however, shook her head “Nonsense, I don’t mind taking care of him”

“That’s a great favour, thank you” Ginny glared at his shirt, hoping it would have the effect of shutting him up.

“It’s no hardship dear, and he’s so well behaved anyway!” Mrs said, leading them outside.

They followed the woman towards the car and slowing her pace, Ginny took the opportunity to talk with Draco.

“What are you doing?” he didn’t even react to her accusatory tone, just continued walking but Ginny knew he had to be looking very pleased with himself.

“Well,” Draco began with a satisfied smirk “A certain someone is being awfully jumpy lately, and watching her constantly run away from me isn’t fun”

Ginny blushed, she had hoped her attitude had fallen into his oblivious category, if she could fake it better, then she wouldn’t have to worry about him seeing through her, but what else was she supposed to do? Confess? If she had a way of knowing what he was feeling maybe, they were definitely attracted to each other and she thought he might like her, but what if it stopped there? She no longer had doubts about being in love with him, she didn’t want to be _just_ liked.

For once Ginny wanted to be the selfish one.

She wanted his love and nothing less.

“Why accept the party then?” she asked.

She felt his hand on her back but the moment she tried to run he pulled her closer.

“You’re using Mrs Rees as a shield so I decided to just find what could be advantageous to me,” Ginny’s eyes widened and she looked at him in reflex, his usually bright eyes were darker and she could feel her knees tremble as he continued “We are supposed to be the tragic lovers, remember? You can’t look so skittish in front of her”

Sometimes Ginny forgot that Slytherins were famous for their cunning, the bastard.

Draco smiled, with her staring at him, wide-eyed and blushing, he had second thoughts about biting her.

“I just don’t want you to run away from me, okay?” he said, letting her go “And, you know, look at me when we are talking”

Ginny bit her lip but nodded, it wasn’t some unreasonable request. And it’s not like she didn’t wish to look at him, no?

“Then let's just have fun, shall we?” he invited her and Ginny smiled, taking his hand.

“Slow” Harry muttered, waiting for his parents in front of the car.

Mrs Rees laughed “You’ll understand when you’re older”

“Huh?” the toddler looked at her confused but she offered no further explanation.

They could hear the music from the inside when they arrived, Ginny briefly thought they style sounded like something her mother would enjoy but not completely unpleasant, the type of music to dance to, really, it did sound fun, the last time she had the chance to dance was at the Yule ball and she was curious how different it would be.

Draco looked at Ginny’s mesmerized expression and smiled, he had accepted the invitation solely for her after all.

Ginny turned around to Mrs Rees, feeling guilty of just leaving Harry to her so she could have fun “Are you sure?”

Mrs Rees smiled “Just go, dear! And if you’re worried we’ll always be in eyesight”

They watched the two leave before Draco offered his hand to Ginny.

“May I have this dance?” he asked.

“So formal” she joked but accepted smiling.

He led her to the centre of the room where some people were already dancing, the song that came on was upbeat and Draco would later refuse to admit he only knew how to dance it because of muggle television as he had only ever been taught high society dances.

Ginny was not expecting that of him but soon the embarrassment of dancing was gone, being near him made her happy, it felt right.

The song spoke of a turbulent relationship and of intense returns but as they danced to it, Ginny and Draco barely heard it, they followed the beat, laughing as he twirled her in the air, separating only for Draco to pull her back toward him. The voices of the singers harmonized and they had only eyes for each other, breathing hard they continued to fool around to the melody.

The voices of the two singers lowered, getting distant from them, and Draco pulled Ginny closer, for something more resembling of the dances he was used to.

“So what do you think?” he asked Ginny.

Still laughing she looked up at him “You’re a better dancer than Neville”

Draco grimaced “That is easy, is that really all you know of dancing?” and Ginny giggled, the euphoria of the dance hitting her again.

“All!” she buried her head into his shoulder, muffling her laughter.

“Terrible!” Draco joked, glad to be holding her again.

The previous song was completely gone now and another began, this one slower, allowing them to stay together.

The song was in french and Ginny had no idea what it said, the music sounded upbeat, like a calm walk in the park, but the singer had an almost melancholic voice that made Ginny want to hold more firmly onto Draco.

Draco didn’t mind being held, he leads her in the song and different form her, he could understand what it said so he gently lowered his head, whispering to her he sang.

_Des enuis des chagrins, s'effacent_

_Heureux, heureux a en mourir_

_Quand il me prend dans ses bras_

Ginny shivered when hearing his voice, his breath on her neck, his lips close enough to kiss but she didn’t risk it, she contented herself with listening.

_Il est entré dans mon coeur_

_Une part de bonheur_

_Dont je connais la cause_

_C'est toi pour moi, moi pour toi dans la vie_

_Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie oh_

Draco pulled away just enough to look at her, without even realizing he had stopped moving, he finished the song.

_Et dès que je t'aperçois_

_Alors je sens en moi_

_Mon coeur qui bat_

They stared at each other for a while, before the next song took them out of their trance.

Ginny smiled and tried to lighten the mood “So, what is the song about?”

“Huh?” he asked stupidly.

“Not all of us had private french tutors from the age of two” she joked, raising her eyebrow “What did the song say?”

Draco thought about it for a moment before answering “Ehm...Paris”

“Really? It didn’t seem--”

Draco pulled her for the next song, his face being the one burning red for one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Me writing this chapter:** They are not dumb!... but they do be dumb.  
> Anachronism, anachronism everywhere! XD  
> I hope I didn't fuck up the descriptions of them dancing XD If you think about it, them dancing to Style, is like, double the anachronism as Harry Potter is set in the 90's XD But I just couldn't help it, I love this version too much and I really thought they looked just too good dancing to it ;3  
> And La vie en rose is practically perfect in every single way so, yeah, XD I always loved dancing scenes where the guy starts singing to the girl (I blame Enchanted) XD (I wanted to change the pronouns to reflect it better... but I don't know french XD so let's just ignore that, shall we?)


	28. Comfort

“Draco just let me in”

“It’s not pretty”

“It’s not supposed to, I need to see you”

Ginny felt the key turning in the bathroom and was greeted by a very sorry picture.

“We are never going to that restaurant” Draco whispered sitting near the toilet, looking paler than usual, he had earlier barricaded himself in the bathroom after his stomach had completely rejected lunch.

“Still awful?” Ginny asked gently, kneeling in front of him and moving his hair out of his face.

“Well if I die you’ll know who to blame,” he said, his stomach still feeling like it might give away even more of its content.

Ginny rolled her eyes but still smiled, stroking his back in a soothing motion, “You’re not going to die”

“Says who? These could be my last moments and then you’d be sad this is what you said” he lamented, really hoping he wasn’t about to vomit again.

Ginny stifled a laugh, at least he could still snark about so it wasn’t more serious than a simple food poisoning.

“Come on, get cleaned and I’ll make you some tea,” she said, taking his arm a trying to raise him from the ground.

“I don’t know, I could just end up vomiting on the floor” Draco worried “In fact, you should not stand so close”

“You’re a wizard,” she joked, trying to calm him “If something happens, you can just clean with magic, no?”

Draco nodded, still feeling embarrassed about the situation, it wasn’t exactly how he wanted to appear in front of Ginny, and instead she had to care for him for something so stupid, he couldn’t even try and get her to fuss over him in pity because he just felt miserable and undignified.

After cleaning himself he trudged toward the couch, just falling upon it, keeping his arm in front of his eyes.

“Is Dada sick?”

Draco turned his head and saw Harry’s worried eyes looking at him, sighing he let Harry lie down on his chest, the child’s hands hugging him. Ginny smiled at the two, despite their differences they truly looked like father and son that way, she wondered if Draco had realized that yet.

“He is Harry, don’t want to help Mama to make him some tea instead?” she asked and the boy looked at her with a sad pout, not wanting to leave.

“It’s okay, he’s not heavy, if anything, the pressure helps to distract me,” Draco said, still trying to hide from her eyes.

Ginny bit her lip and moved his hair from his face again, just as he didn’t like when she hid from him, she didn’t want him to feel ashamed in front of her. He already had her heart after all.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead, “Then just wait for a little more, it won’t take much longer”

He grumbled, his cheeks turning pink, but waited patiently for her return, hoping his stomach would finally calm down, even complaining was hard at that moment, so he tried thinking of something else.

It was the new year, Harry would soon be three and Ginny would be seventeen letting her use magic again, she was looking forward to that, Draco had seen her glancing under the bed in anticipation, she would smile and think no one had seen but the flat was too small for him not see, he was getting well versed in the habits of Ginevra Weasley. He let out a small laugh, he was really acting like a fool near her, huh.

“Dada?” Harry asked.

“It’s nothing” he replied calming the boy.

Harry was really growing fast, it was strange to think that he’d been smaller, when they arrived he only babbled and now he’d talk with them, he made several drawings, he’d run and play. It still felt strange to be the guardian of a child, his family had changed a lot since then.

Ginny returned with the tea, leaving it on the table she picked up Harry.

“After he drinks the tea you can go back” she explained, holding the toddler so he could get up.

The tea was of the medicinal kind and thus not particularly good, it was supposed to make him better not to please him, but Draco could taste some honey making it more palatable, and hopefully, it would soon calm his stomach.

“Tea leaves” he mumbled to himself, laughing a little.

“Huh?” Ginny asked.

“Tea leaves,” Draco repeated, turning the cup towards her so she could see, “Wonder what they say?”

“Ron always complained about Divination and I decided to go to Runes instead so I wouldn’t know” Ginny smiled, taking the cup “This looks like a duck, so maybe you need to be careful next time we go to the park?”

Draco laughed “A duck? Looks more like a fish to me” he turned the cup, trying to see anything in it besides, well, leaves.

“Better?” she asked gently.

Draco paused for a moment, realizing that between the tea and the distraction, he really did feel better, not healed yet, but better.

“Surprisingly, yea,” he said finally.

Harry chose that moment to climb back onto his lap, in one hand his teddy and a book in the other.

“Do you want me to read the book, Harry?” Ginny asked, sitting next to them.

Harry nodded enthusiastically before turning towards Draco “And Dada can hold teddy!” and handed the bear to Draco “So he is not sick”

Draco smiled and accepted the bear “I’m sure I’ll be better then”

Harry beamed and got comfortable to hear the story, and on Draco’s other side Ginny decided to rest her head on his shoulder as read, effectively blocking him there.

“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away...”

Draco had to give it to muggles, despite years of separation from the wizarding world they had still been able to create these stories that just brimmed with magic and some even painted a not terrible picture of fantastic creatures. Although he still wouldn’t trust hippogriffs no matter what those stories said.

And Ginny’s voice as she told the story was so soothing he almost fell asleep too.

“Then Jack climbed the beanstalk...” Ginny looked down at Harry and smiled, “He’s asleep”

“Right in time” Draco whispered, readjusting the child so he would sleep better.

Ginny was about to place down the book when Draco held her hand, his cheeks turning pink.

“Could you,” he tried not to sound needy “Could you finish that story?”

“I guess muggle fairy tales are new to us too” Ginny didn’t mind continuing and she liked how relaxed he looked while he listened.

“I wouldn’t know” Draco admitted, it wasn’t something he had anything to feel guilty about, but it had become a habit in time “My father prohibited most fairy tales from ever reaching me, they said they were useless muggle propaganda”

“Wait,” Ginny said, trying to process what she heard “Me reading to Harry was the first time you ever heard a fairy tale?”

“I was read the hairy heart” he offered embarrassed.

Ginny tried to imagine a childhood where the only tales you were read were morbid stories about ripping others' hearts from their chests in an attempt to feel anything and she felt disgusted, how could Lucius Malfoy let that be his son’s childhood? How could his hatred run so deep that he’d starve his child of magic and wonder?

“Tomorrow we’ll buy more books!” she exclaimed, almost waking Harry again, so she continued in a lower voice “And I’ll tell you and Harry about wizarding fairy tales!”

Draco’s blush intensified “It’s not that important, really!”

Ginny looked at him, her eyes burning intensely “It is important, he had no right to look at you and care more about his cause, I just can’t believe Lucius valued hate above love”

And she stroked his cheek, Ginny wanted to hug him, to kiss him, anything really, to show how much she already loved Draco, and how she never wanted for him to be alone again.

Draco felt like he’d burst open if she continued to look at him that way.

He had never known much about romantic love, Pansy had loved his money and never looked at him the way Ginny did then, but it so much more than that.

It was everything from the moment they arrived when she was ready to lower her wand for an enemy, that she trusted him when he wouldn’t have trusted himself, it was that she would give him a second chance after he broke her trust. She was everything he’d never expected and more than he had expected.

Draco leaned towards her, he probably would’ve kissed her...

“Mama?”

Harry’s voice reached them, making them separate as fast as they could, burning bright red.

Ginny got up, attempting a smile she said “I’ll put Harry to bed, hum, tomorrow we’ll have more stories, and yea... hum, I’ll read all you want then”

And she escaped to the bedroom, leaving Draco to ponder on the fact that they almost kissed.

It shouldn’t surprise him, it was a long time coming and he had expected to feel scared, but instead, there was a sense of weightlessness in him, something similar to when he held his wand again. Despite his worries, once he arrived, it was just right.

He thought back to all that he had seen her, how she’d smile, how she cried, all her expressions that he’d observed, happiness, sadness, and love, how she'd bite her lips and look about to do some mischievous things, and it would all always leave him breathless.

He had seen her at her messiest and it didn't enter his mind that there was anyone he'd rather see, Ginny overwhelmed him in ways he didn't even think possible. She found the best in him and made him see his worst, she made him realize how much more he wanted from himself.

A fire that brought new life into him.

It would be impossible for him to deny now that he was irrevocably in love with Ginny Weasley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a mini-crisis at the beginning of this chapter because I just didn't know what to write, it was just a complete blank, I was vaguely aware of what I wanted at the end of the chapter but the beginning was just full of nothing and I just didn't want to pause the writing and I couldn't focus on atba while this was incomplete :D so I just moved what was supposed to be the middle to the beginning and things worked out better from then, hope this is good enough, Draco's realization is a lot tamer than Ginny's but I hope it's not disappointing :3 (it was originally supposed to be slightly different, but I was content with where I left it)  
> Also, the part about Lucius forbidding wizarding fairy tales is based on the fact that in Hogwarts Library it's said that he wrote to Hogwarts asking to banish the pro-muggle fairy tales and was rejected by Dumbledore, I just exaggerated a little ;)  
> And now it's just a count down to the confession ;D
> 
> p.s: As a non-native English speaker I never saw the Harry Potter movies in English and then I watched Dylan is in Trouble video and I was constantly having an existential crisis at the fact that the voices were so unfamiliar to me, I'm shook


	29. Stuck

Draco entered the house and was greeted by an unusual silence, the Trouble Duo would usually be up and running around by the time he was back, what were they...

“Aaaaahhhhhh”

“Harry come back!”

Draco shook his head as a very naked toddler ran towards him, clinging to his leg before he scooped him up. He stared at the boy in amusement just as Ginny exited the bathroom, looking as if she’d lost a battle with the shower.

“So?” he asked the child.

“Mama wants me to put on clothes” Harry answered and imitated shaking his head.

“It’s cold, you can’t just run around wearing nothing” Ginny reprimanded him, still holding the boy’s shirt.

“No! No clothes!” and Harry clung to Draco’s neck and Ginny huffed.

“He’s fussy today,” she said, now directed at Draco.

“Think about it this way,” Draco told her smirking “One day we’ll be able to tell all his embarrassing moments”

Ginny laughed, after the day she had she might just look forward to that day.

Draco turned towards Harry again “What do you say, if you put on your clothes, we go out tomorrow?”

Harry’s eyes widened in interest “To play?!”

“Sure” Draco answered, ready to bargain “But only if you put on clothes”

The toddler squirmed in his arms so he could run back to Ginny and put on clothes, already thinking of the next day. Ginny started dressing the child but she would often glance towards Draco, she seemed like she wanted to say something but always stopping herself before she said anything.

“Something wrong?” Draco asked, had he forgotten something?

“No, no... just,” she bit her lip, looking away to hide her blush “Tomorrow? Are you... sure?”

Draco run dates in his mind, but none of their birthdays were coming up as they were still at the beginning of the year and there was nothing they had to attend that he could remember.

“I guess so,” he said in the end “Why? Something tomorrow?”

Ginny sighed but smiled nonetheless, he’d realize soon enough “No, nothing much”

Draco blanched as he looked around town, the advertisement was just too obnoxious to ignore. _Valentine’s Day._

He really shouldn’t be so worked up at that, it wasn’t a date and Harry would be with them the whole time, bloody hell, it was just stupid for him to put so much emphasis on one day that he didn’t even like to begin with, it wasn’t even like they had never gone out so he had nothing to stress about.

_But those times you weren’t sure you were in love with her._

His mind whispered traitorously and Draco tried to ignore it, but it was harder to ignore the fact that whenever he looked away from the street it was Ginny he would look towards. Her breath appearing in the freezing cold that turned her face red, how she’d smile at whatever Harry said before adjusting his cap better, Draco couldn’t stop searching for her even as she stood next to him.

Maybe, just maybe, he could just tell her...

Draco sighed, sooner or later he’d just blurt out a confession despite years of learning to hide his emotions, he felt so vulnerable.

There were no shields to protect him from loving Ginny and there was nothing to catch him if he discovered he had fooled himself about what she might feel for him, he felt so insecure and hesitant, he wanted to hold her and never let her go but he also wanted to bury those feelings so everything could stay the same and never lose her.

“Are we so boring you decided to brood over there?” she asked amused, that mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Thinking if we should’ve taken the bus” he lied, getting closer to the two.

“Wehre we going?” Harry asked smiling.

“After last time fiasco,” Draco shuddered “I researched the restaurant in the city and this one had a more tolerable menu and it just so happened to also have a kids area, safe for all ages apparently, I don’t know how far that can be trusted, however”

Ginny giggled “Thought of everything, huh?”

“The second option was a babysitter”

The two blushed, looking away from each other so they could ponder on what that meant for the other in private.

Looking around at the simple restaurant Ginny tried to imagine what Draco had been used to before they arrived. Not having money growing up seemed like torture, everyone else got to have new and better things each year but she had her brothers repurposed clothes and toys, having to watch it from afar, but as she grew older money meant less and less, her family happiness and safety being so much more important, but Draco had grown surrounded by luxury.

What they had now had to look mediocre in comparison... feeling suddenly self-conscious she adjusted her hair and clothes quickly.

They were quickly greeted by a waiter that took them to a table near the window doors leading to the play area so they would be able to keep an eye on Harry at all times.

“If you wish dinner now we can set a baby seat or would you rather let him play before eating?” the waiter asked.

“Play! Play!” Harry exclaimed running towards the door.

“The area is closed off and is perfectly safe for toddlers so you won’t have to worry about it” the waiter smiled as they looked at each other debating if they should go with the child.

“We have a good vision of the area from here” Ginny suggested.

While Draco didn’t know how safe it would be for a toddler, he just really wanted to spend time with Ginny alone, or close to that anyway.

“Okay,” he nodded, letting Harry play.

The silence as they sat down was palpable but he hoped it was because Ginny was as agitated to impress him as he was to impress her, rather than feeling uncomfortable with him... Draco quickly asked for some water.

How did people do this? What was he supposed to say now?

Ginny looked up from her hands as she heard his voice and it surprised her how open Draco looked in that moment, he’d learned to hide or mask anything too intense he was feeling but now it was plain how tense he was and it softened her own.

“It’s strange being able to spend time together now” she laughed and held his hand, trying to calm him.

Draco smiled noticing what she was doing “Can you imagine trying to tell anyone about it?”

“I think my mother would freak out, she couldn’t handle my brother having long hair or a job that wasn’t the ministry, considering our situation,” Ginny smiled imagining the lecture her mother would have given her “She is the type to think this is improper, it is quite funny when you think how much they thought that following the old ways was stupid”

“How so?” Draco decided to tease her “We are married”

Ginny turned red, deciding to ignore that for her present sanity “But I think telling your family would be more entertaining”

_Yeah_ , Draco thought, _I think father would go to an early grave if I told him I am in love with a Weasley._

“You can be so sadistic Ginevra, are you sure you were not supposed to be a Slytherin?” he joked, enjoying hearing her laugh.

“You know, I never thought I would find it nice to hear my full name being said, maybe it’s just how posh you make it sound” Ginny joked, squeezing his hand and wondering if she said too much “The things you discover when you get stuck with someone, huh?”

Draco suddenly let go of her hand.

“Your water” the waiter returned.

“Stuck, huh?” Draco said taking a swig of his water, he was now frowning but she couldn’t tell why.

“Well, yeah,” she tried to bring back the warm conversation from before “I mean, we probably would have just continued hating each other if we never arrived here, no?”

He nodded but there was something in his expression, almost angry, as he downed his drink.

“Yeah, guess that’s _just_ how it is” he was agreeing with her but he seemed irritated somehow and it basically halted the conversation as it had been.

At no point did the dinner turned unfriendly but the closeness was gone, they got Harry and finished eating with little to no talking and the walk back was just as sad but Ginny had no idea what had happened.

Draco was there but he seemed so far away now and she had no idea how to fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because the road of love never run straight with a writer that loves the slow constructions of why two people love each other XD  
> ;) Despite knowing their own feelings, it is much harder to know the others and understanding doesn't arrive immediately...  
> Also, I'm slut for drama!  
> Hehe, sorry for the tease ;D the confession really isn't far now, I promise XD
> 
> p.s: Yes, I don't think I will ever draw Draco's hair consistently XD


	30. Help from a Friend

In muggle films, characters would often show their emotional distress by driving away, ignoring their surroundings as they speed down a conveniently deserted road to somewhere they could clear their thoughts and come back with a sound mind. But Draco couldn’t do that.

He had no car, not that it would matter if he did as he had no license to drive it, so he was left with the much less dignified option of having an emotional breakdown on a bus to Little Haven after leaving his dignity at home.

Draco sighed, in a few hours Ginny and Harry would wake up to a note that only explained he would come back later in the day, he hoped she would not hate him for it but after the day before he needed just a moment to think, some space between him and what he had to do afterward, whatever that would be.

_Stuck._

That’s how Ginny had described being with him.

_Being stuck_.

They were nothing but _stuck_.

He let out a self-deprecating laughter, garnering him the disapproving looks from his fellow passengers and if he wasn’t buried in his thoughts he might have told them to stuff it but none of them mattered as much as what Ginny said.

She was stuck with him and if it wasn’t for that then their feelings would have never happened...

Therefore...

Even if she _did_ love him, it wasn’t... _real_... she’d just be performing based on him being the only one she could have, possibly not even for long if she realized she could just, well, leave. They didn’t need to be _together_ to raise Harry and he just realized how much that scared him.

Trying to distract himself with the sights of the city didn’t work, he watched a few houses pass by, imagining if any could be home, and all it did was bringing him back to Ginny.

Draco wanted so much more, maybe even the stupid things he used to make fun in others, he wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to love her.

How could he tell her if those feelings would only turn into a cage?

Iwan greeted him at the bus station, Draco had used magic so the letter would arrive faster, he needed someone to talk and the man was the only person he knew that might actually listen to him.

“Gotta say, I did not expect to hear from you now,” the man said with a grin, looking relaxed as usual “You okay?”

“Confused, mostly,” Draco answered, it was strange letting someone else know about his thoughts, his mind should be a well-kept secret but at that moment he felt it’s absolute silence to be more stifling than reassuring, he’d go mad if he was left alone.

“A drink then?” Iwan offered and Draco thought of refusing but he needed something to be able to open up for once so he agreed.

Iwan looked at the teen, every time they had met before it was clear that he was someone very closed off and Iwan had a hard time believing that someone could receive a scar like his in just a normal school, he had heard from his mother about how jumpy they looked when she first met them, so for someone like that, talking, even something that would otherwise be simple, would feel very invasive.

Iwan handed the boy a beer and watched as he looked over the drink with questioning eyes before actually drinking it, and from his face, he was clearly not used to it, Iwan almost laughed.

“So, what’s the problem in paradise?” Iwan asked, drinking his own beer.

Draco looked around, unsure of what to do with his hands he stuffed them in his jacket, hoping that it would help him calm down, “How long have you and Ceri been together?”

Iwan raised an eyebrow, starting to understand “Five years now, but we’ve known each other for longer”

“Have you ever thought that she stayed with you for the familiarity?” Draco couldn’t help the nervous twitch of his leg.

_Yup, I see now_ , Iwan thought.

“Everyone feels insecure from time to time,” Iwan shrugged before smiling “But this isn’t about me and Ceri at all, no? So let’s go back to you”

Draco frowned and was about to tell him off but Iwan continued “I’m not asking about what happened, not yet at least, when did you and Virginia meet?”

Draco quietened and looked down, he didn’t want to talk and took another gulp of the cheap beer, the fact that Iwan just waited for him to talk was even more maddening, it would be so much easier if the man just got angry at him and stormed off.

“I was twelve, she was eleven and was buying her school materials,” Draco explained finally, the silence making him feel begrudgingly guilty.

“Love at first sight?” Iwan asked and Draco laughed.

“Far from it, she actually scolded me that day, she was so small a gust of wind would have taken her away, and yet, she stared at me so fiercely, she hated me so much,” Draco was smiling as he recalled that day but his smile fell soon enough “...She hated me for so long”

“So you didn’t like each other growing up?” Iwan asked, starting to get a better picture of the situation.

“Not at all, she even he--, hum, punched me once” he corrected himself, hiding it with another beer “We just never really talked growing up and if we did it would not have ended up well, I don’t know if we could have been open enough back then to have an actual conversation, not to mention I hated her brother and he hated me”

They never talked about their families, Iwan thought, it was rare for even just that small of an admission and yet it seemed to be terribly important.

“So it’s about family then?”

Draco glanced at him and sighed “My father is... was... he is a complicated man and I’m his complicated son” he took another gulp “Our families never went along, it was a mess, that first meeting? Our fathers got into a fight, it was quite the spectacle”

“They don’t approve?” Iwan asked, paying attention as Draco pondered over the question.

“I don’t know what her father would say, I didn’t know him but I know how different he was from my father, and my father...” Draco laughed into his drink “He would hate this and I’m way past the point of caring, he preached about family but it was always about power”

Iwan nodded, he only needed one more thing.

“If it was so difficult, how did you two end up with Harry?” he asked.

Blushing, Draco tried with a vague truth “We... didn’t plan on it”

“That much is obvious”

Draco elected to ignore that “Things were... different when we had Harry and we talked more, saw each other truly for the first time, we were finally at a place where it felt _real_ to be with each other”

“But?” Iwan asked.

With mounting anxiety, Draco started pacing “But then yesterday happened! And I just don’t know what to think anymore! Are we in love or is she trying to not feel alone anymore?!”

Iwan smiled gently, finally getting to the point.

Draco grimaced “I just don't want her to choose me just because I'm all she has”

“Well, the solution is simple” Iwan announced, pulling Draco into a walk and away from the beers.

“Is it?” Draco doubted.

Iwan smirked “Oh, yes, it really is”

Draco stared at him waiting for an answer and this time Iwan had to laugh, he shouldn’t but the answer was so clear in his mind that the boy's confusion was just funny.

“The answer,” Iwan began “Is to tell her”

“What?” Draco asked, completely bewildered.

Iwan laughed again “You talked about how worried you were that Virginia might love you just because she is afraid, but if you love her, why can’t it be the same for her? Why are you so convinced that she couldn’t be as much in love with you as you are with her?”

Draco tried to think about the question but the more he thought, the less sense it made “But she told me that she was stuck with me!”

“Did she?” Iwan asked smirking, he already knew the answer.

“Well, sort of, but she also said that things would have been different had we not had Harry and--” Draco began to talk too fast and not particularly coherently at the moment.

Iwan patted him on the shoulder “You feel that she has no reason to love you at the moment because of your past, but when you take that away you will realize,” the man smiled “That it’s your choices now that define what happens next, your past is gone and it’s all about how you will shape the future, just talk to her and you’ll see”

Draco looked ahead, trying to assimilate what was said, the prospect of laying such a new side of him bare in front of Ginny scared him to death, but if there was a chance that rather than trapped, she might feel the same...

He had to talk to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cursed thought of this chapter: Iwan totally thinks they hate fucked XD
> 
> A chapter for Christmas? Not quite the one you were expecting XD that one was taking a bit longer than I thought I needed, but I hope you guys are having nice holidays, christmas or other! :D But now it's official, the confession is next chapter ;D  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter and how it leads up to the confession!


	31. Ice Skating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song for the chapter: She - Jake Scott ;D

Ginny looked at the door opening.

It had been a strange day, after the terrible dinner she had hoped she’d be able to talk things through with Draco but he was nowhere to be seen and it had been miserable waiting for him to return with nothing more than a note telling her he’d be back.

Was what she said that terrible that he felt the need to run away from her? He had only felt necessary to run away once and it had not been their best moment, had she ruined things with Draco? But she had no idea what she had done.

So she had waited for him to return, apologize, or anything that might fix things, she just wanted him back.

Draco entered the flat and it felt like a sick deja-vu because Ginny looked just as she had when he returned the day he decided to apologize for his past, only instead of readying herself for conflict she looked scared.

Had he not promised to never leave her like that again?

He ran and embraced her before she could say anything, he wouldn’t be able to handle it if she apologized now, Draco wanted to do things at least somewhat right.

He made his future and it would begin now.

“Draco, what happened yesterday--” Ginny tried to say, so glad that he was holding her again.

“I’m sorry” he whispered, holding her close.

He knew she would think she’d done something wrong, a problem with being too good of a person, his stupidly selfless Ginny.

She pulled away to be able to look him in the eyes and found him smiling at her and it made her heart swell, he wasn’t angry and she hadn’t ruined everything, Ginny almost kissed him for that.

“Ginny,” he said and she found herself nodding, his eyes that shade of silver that always distracted her “I think we should talk”

Ginny froze “Draco, whatever it was, I didn’t mean it, it’s okay, we don’t need--”

Draco laughed and hugged her again.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, looking at her worried expression “I meant, on a date”

Ginny blinked, worried she hadn’t heard him correctly while her heart was trying to escape her chest “Date, as in a real date?”

“I don’t think we have the money for anything fancy, but it could be enough,” he said with shining eyes “For us”

“So you are asking me out?” she repeated just to be sure and Draco nodded, Ginny smiled then said “Yes! I mean, yes, sure, yes”

“Tomorrow then?” he asked at least and she agreed, trying to not make her smile too obvious.

Ginny was about to turn around, find somewhere in the tiny flat that she could have a place alone where she could assimilate what had just happened when she noticed how Draco was walking.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, “Draco... where have you been?”

It felt strange to tell someone her own age to take care of her child, but Ginny knew they would never be able to properly talk if they had to also take care of Harry and so a babysitter had to be hired.

The toddler looked at her with a pout “I wanna go too”

Ginny kneeled to the child’s height “I know love, but this is something we have to be alone, another day we can take you out”

Harry hugged her and she melted, she wanted to agree and take him too but remembering that they weren’t just going out, that Draco was taking her on a date, stopped her. She needed to be alone with Draco for once.

With one last kiss on his forehead, she let him go and had a last talk with the babysitter, who was just as uncomfortable as she was, before getting out of the flat where Draco waited for her in the snow.

She smiled and shook her head, he had to be dramatic like that.

Draco got closer and smiled, understanding what she was thinking he said “Well, we are already pretty unconventional so I tried with the proper way for once” and offered his arm.

“Conventionality doesn’t suit us” Ginny joked, taking his arm.

He looked at her and had to agree, Draco had never expected to fall as hard as he did and nothing had been like he’d planned but standing at her side felt didn’t feel like falling, he felt like he was standing for the first time, as imperfectly perfect as they were.

“Well then, where is propriety going to take us today?” she asked, curious about where the actual date would be.

“Do you trust me?” Draco raised his eyebrow in amusement.

Ginny looked at him confused “Of course”

Draco had to take a deep breath, that simple acknowledgment leaving him breathless.

“Then close your eyes”

Ginny looked at him and how earnestly he was staring at her, so she closed her eyes and let him guide her, his hands in her were cold but it didn’t matter because she could feel his pulse and his heart was beating as fast as hers.

“You can look now”

She opened her eyes and saw as the lights illuminated the ice skate rink in the night where many people were already skating, some better than others, and laughing with each other.

“I never ice skated before,” he said with a sheepish grin.

“Really, why?” Ginny asked with a laugh.

Draco looked at her and squeezed her hand “I was too afraid before”

Ginny couldn’t help but snicker when she looked at Draco as it was the second time he had fallen right on his butt as he tried to go too fast on the ice.

“Again!” he said angrily, gripping the side of the rink to get up.

Ginny burst out laughing, the first time he had chucked it to bad luck but it seemed he was getting frustrated now, as she already knew, Draco had the tendency of wanting to be good at something, immediately, she wondered if he realized she’d gladly pamper him if he stopped for a moment.

“You don’t need to go that fast, you know,” she said, wanting to hug him.

“Everyone else can,” Draco huffed “I surely can, I just need,” he said, trying to get his balance back “To continue”

Ginny shook her head and succumbed to her wish to hug him “You don’t need to be the best at everything”

Draco melted in her embrace “But I want to”

Ginny laughed into his jacket before looking up at him “Then a pause? I think we were supposed to talk”

Draco blushed and nodded, the two reaching the edge of the rink and getting out, they walked slightly away from the rink in silence hoping the distance would allow them to talk more easily.

But revealing your feelings was something a lot more daunting than they had expected.

Ginny took a deep breath and decided to start before and try to understand something else before she tried to confess “Draco, I have to ask about the dinner, I, I just don’t understand why it changed so much, I thought we were having fun”

Draco tried looking at the sky for some strength to explain but the stars weren’t the ones that had to speak, it all depended on him and it was terrifying.

“The day of the dinner” he began before turning to look at her, “You said something and it got me thinking” he sighed “It scared me”

“What? Why?” she asked getting closer to Draco.

“Because,” he grimaced “I am who I am, and I was scared you couldn’t love me as I love you”

Ginny had the air knocked out of her, he loved her, he truly loved her, and he... thought she couldn’t love him?

“And you think that because?” Ginny asked, her voice seemed almost passionless as her feelings swirled on the inside.

“Because it’s us and I couldn’t think you could love me!” Draco said fastly “You were right! We spent so many years hating the other and I was so wrong about everything in my life, how could you truly fall in love with that? How am I enough? I’m not what you wanted and nothing that we have now could’ve come if we hadn’t been dragged here, and if it’s not real, how could I live knowing that...”

Draco first felt her hands on the lapel of his jacket before she pulled him down.

And then he felt her lips on his.

It took a moment before he truly realized what was happening and when he did he pushed her closer, her hands going around his neck while his hands went to her waist, deepening the kiss.

When they separated he wasn’t sure he was breathing hard from the kiss or from the emotion.

“It was getting hard to say anything,” Ginny whispered “So I had to improvise”

Draco chuckled “You said that... that we were stuck”

“And you are a great fool if you thought that meant I didn’t love you” she couldn’t stop herself from laughing, as the elation of finally speaking out her feelings hit her, Ginny couldn’t believe how much she loved him.

“It’s not about deserving, it’s not about who we were back then or how we came here, you stupid, stupid Malfoy” she shook her head, giving him another brief kiss “It’s about how you made me fall in love with you, every day, since I truly saw you for the first time, from the moment I decided I didn’t _depend_ on your presence, you showed me how much I _wanted_ your presence”

She chuckled “Merlin, you have no idea what you’ve done to me, do you? I don’t even know how to explain how or when it began, I love more than I have words to say, Draco Malfoy, I don’t _need_ you, I _chose_ you and if you let me, I will continue to choose you for the rest of our lives”

Draco wasn’t sure why he started crying but hearing her speak, hearing her say she loved him, was so much he cried as he smiled.

“I couldn’t stand the idea that you didn’t love me, you are so much more that I wished for, Ginny, you make me better than I thought I ever could be, Salazar, I never want to let you go, you harpy, you are so important to me...” he whispered, burying his head on her should “I love you so much”

Being with him was so different from what she had been told about love but it felt right, someone who wanted all of her and didn’t shy away from the good, the bad, and all that stood in between.

“Look at me Draco,” she said, her hand caressing his cheek.

Draco looked into her eyes, her deep brown eyes were shining and he was now sure it was for him, she loved him, she did.

“I love you, so much” Ginny whispered.

He laughed, kissing her again, for as long as she wanted, Draco would give her every part of him if she asked for it because it all belonged to her.

They continued there, illuminated by night lights, their feelings louder than words because they were home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the confession didn't disappoint!


	32. Just as We Are

Ginny thought it was unfair that while she turned red to the tip of her ears but Draco would only get pink-ish when he blushed, the thought was running through her mind as they walked back home, hands intertwined.

“Don’t tease me” Draco joked, squeezing her hand.

Ginny chuckled “Unfortunately for you, that is my privilege now” she grinned, wanting all the advantages that being his girlfriend granted.

“Oh really?” he laughed and brought her closer.

“Really,” Ginny continued with her joke “I get to tease you, steal your clothes, and glare at every girl that gets too close”

“But you already did that one,” he said with an eyebrow raised in amusement and Ginny blushed.

“If you don’t let flirty customers get too close, I won’t have to get possessive” she muttered before burying her face in his chest but Draco had the sensation that it wouldn’t be that simple, not that he minded.

He let out a small laugh, remembering the accident with Eira Lynn and how she thought he had liked Pansy, “You know,” Draco began and Ginny looked up back at him “Pansy would hate knowing that you are having what she wanted”

Ginny’s eyes widened “Wait, you and Pansy never?”

“No,” Draco smiled at her, finding her confusion funny “I was never interested in her, but we were somewhat friends and I liked the attention”

Ginny laughed and rolled her eyes, she let go of his hand and instead held him at the waist, it was harder to walk but she wanted to hold him as he talked.

“You know, she once asked me what I thought of you and if I agreed with other guys about you being pretty,” he told her, remembering the event on the train, although nowadays, he didn’t like to think about what happened after that.

“And what did you answer?” she asked, trying to imagine what Pansy would say if she saw them now.

“I didn’t,” he said and laughed when Ginny looked at him perplexed “I didn’t care about you back then”

Ginny shook her head as his tone turned apologetic and kissed his cheek “Not even to talk about my awful ginger hair or my subpar Weasley looks?” she joked in a caricature mocking voice before chuckling.

“To be fair, I know you didn’t have the best opinions on my looks either” Draco played along.

“And then I discovered that apparently, ferrety gits _are_ my type” she grinned at him as he shook his head, despite her words, if he asked, Ginny would easily talk about how she liked the way his hair framed his face and how she also loved his hair when they just woke up and he was still waking up, letting it fall on his eyes... his eyes, just everything about his eyes, his jawline and how happy she was that she now could kiss him whenever she wanted.

Even the things she used to dislike, she now loved because they were all him.

“And you were never subpar,” he said before taking her hand and kissing the back.

It wasn’t a lie, the him from a year ago would have never been able to admit it but she had always been pretty, the him from now knew she was beautiful, her hair was the colour of copper but it was hardly a bad thing, he loved how soft they felt in his hand and he sometimes thought he wouldn’t mind if one day they had a biological child with her hair, her eyes were common brown but whoever said that was boring had never paid attention, he had seen how they shined when she was excited or being mischievous, how they would darken when she was angry, and he felt crushed whenever he knew she had cried, all from her eyes. He loved every part that made her, _her_.

Draco smirked as he saw her ears turn red.

“Things are going to change I guess,” Ginny wondered about how their new relationship would affect the way they had built their life.

Draco frowned, knowing she didn’t mean to make it sound so negative he joked “Do you have to make it sound like being with me is so bad?”

Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled “I just mean we have really jumped stages, a child before we even liked each other”

Draco nodded “Yeah, I had a wife before I had a girlfriend”

She laughed, enjoying the warmth she felt whenever he said she was his wife, it had just been a convenient lie at first and now it actually felt real, Ginny felt comfortable with the thought, something a year before would’ve seemed impossible.

“I guess it’s just that despite knowing the future, I’m just as blind to it as I was before,” she said, stopping her walk to look at Draco’s eyes and he smiled at her, it was so sincere and she smiled back, Ginny wasn’t afraid of the future with her new family.

“Someone told me,” _not that long ago_ he added in his mind “It’s our choices that define our future, and I’m glad you are my choice, Ginevra”

“I love you too,” she said with a chuckle and kissed him.

They would have probably lost themselves to the kiss again but they couldn’t that night.

“Harry is still waiting for us,” Ginny said even if she didn’t want to separate from Draco yet.

Draco kissed her head “Yeah, let’s go back home”

“Mama! Dada!”

Draco picked up the happy toddler while Ginny paid the babysitter.

“So, did you have fun when we were away?” Draco asked Harry, bouncing him a little and making him laugh before letting him answer.

“Yeah! Can I go too?” the toddler asked with shiny green eyes.

“Next time? Of course,” Draco said before giving the child a tired smile “I guess you really won’t let me have time alone with your Mama, huh”

“Alone?” Harry asked, not recognizing that word.

“Yeah, just me and her” Draco tried to explain but the child paled.

“No me? No, no, no” he proclaimed, tightening his hold on Draco “I don like alone”

Ginny observed the two, as Draco tried to calm the now upset child, she had never heard Draco call Harry his son, it was still strange for her to be Harry’s mother, she understood that it hadn’t sunken in yet, but she wondered if he didn’t realize that he was already his father, that he acted as such, that Harry saw him as such.

She shook her head amused, she loved them both so much.

Ginny walked towards the two and picked Harry from Draco and smiled at the boy “You don’t have to worry Harry, we will never truly leave you alone”

“Until the very end,” Draco said, his hand on Harry’s back soothing the child.

They held the toddler together, letting him know they wouldn’t disappear and when Harry brightened again and began to tell about his day with the babysitter they smiled to each other. The three sat down on the couch and they listened to the toddler’s tale, enjoying the rest of the night.

Things had changed but they had become a family long before and knew they could face whatever came next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is... Is this... good? I'm really not sure :/ I had a different chapter here but it picked up way after the confession and it felt like it left a hole of the relationship but I also had no idea what to put directly after said confession, I hope this wasn't disappointing :/ *sigh* Happy New Year!! :3  
> (Was Draco using James' line too heavy-handed?)


	33. The House

That Monday of Mid-March, Draco stepped out of the bus and walked the streets of Little Haven.

It seemed to the seventeen-year-old that he was finally getting his life right, he’d spent years listening to his father and received a suicide mission and a torturous year, but perhaps if his life had gone differently he would not be standing where he was now.

He had a girlfriend that he loved and they were raising a child, he had a job he enjoyed and people in his life that he cared for and knew that he could trust them too.

But they were missing one thing.

A home.

The flat had seen them through several tumultuous times but also some truly beautiful moments, as much as he hated it, Draco could treasure those memories and the lessons he’d learned there, but ultimately the flat just wasn’t a home.

Draco wanted the whole cliché, the house with the garden where Harry could play, his own room, a fireplace, his dreams were much smaller than before but they meant so much more.

He no longer had the money to afford a mansion but he could make do with this new life.

And Little Haven was the start.

It was closer to his work than the flat was, it was a beautiful place, close to the beach, and despite her fervid imagination, Mrs. Rees had always been kind to them with nothing to gain from it.

Little Haven felt like home to Draco.

The last time he’d visited it had been hard to focus on anything besides Ginny, and while she was still in his thoughts it was for a very different reason this time.

One house had particularly stood out in his blurry memories.

The house stood slightly away from most others, perfect for a magic family, the garden, while currently unkempt, was wide and would be greatly enjoyed by an enthusiastic toddler, and what worked the most for him and his plan:

The house was completely dilapidated.

For muggles, he had read, a house in such a decrepit state was usually a very troublesome acquisition as the cost of reparations would greatly outweigh the cost of the house itself, but for Draco that was perfect as such houses would have lower prices that fit better with what he could buy.

The real estate agent didn’t seem impressed when he arrived, it was laughable how easy it was to see that, Draco knew he didn’t make the best of impressions at his age and his financials were just good enough, but there was one thing he’d learned from his father.

He knew how to make sellers listen to him.

Draco walked like he already owned the place and his smile was a weapon.

“I am sure we could find another place,” the agent said with an overly polite smile “Mr Hewitt, maybe a flat would... suit you more?”

He looked down on the agent with more confidence than he actually had, the key was to never look intimidated by the other and always show them you believe you belong there.

“And I am sure you wouldn’t want to lose a client,” Draco smiled too, but his was mocking, and gave the agent less space for scorn “It doesn’t look good but I’m sure you already knew that”

The agent was annoyed but clearly wouldn’t try to sneer at him anymore that visit, Draco couldn’t care less what happened afterward, he only needed the house.

“As you can see,” the agent began, guiding him on the gravel path towards the front door “The garden is a lot of disrepair, there hasn’t been anyone in the house since the forties”

Draco agreed with a hum, he was imagining if he’d add a swing set in the garden and it sounded like a fun possibility, although he might have to learn to do one himself, the prices he’d seen weren’t good for that idea.

“The door jams in the entrance,” the agent trying to spite him by pointing out the houses' flaws was so funny to Draco, every bad thing they said would just be another thing to lower the price of the house for him “So that will need changing”

“This is the living room, the fireplace doesn’t work anymore”

Draco looked around and smiled, the room was just terrible and that was perfect for him, what really mattered was how spacious it was and on that front, it was as he’d hoped, the fireplace was beautiful and he could imagine adding furniture and their pictures and Harry would be able to paint the walls if he wanted without worries.

“This way is the kitchen” Draco followed the agent into the next room “It's divided into a kitchen and that part can be turned into a dining area I suppose, but the whole kitchen needs updating”

Draco touched the counters and agreed that it would need something new and better but he loved how well he could move through the space and wondered what was the first thing they would make, maybe he should learn some new recipe?

“The bathroom and the bedrooms are upstairs,” Draco was pushed away from his musings again and continued the tour “Of course, the bathroom is in such a state, please attention on that step it is not safe, in such a state that it will be necessary to change everything”

He nodded politely, the wood under his hand was solid and he knew he could make a good work out of it.

The bathroom was indeed extremely old and destroyed, Draco wondered if he might need help for that but thought that ultimately the house as a whole was more than that small thing. But what the bathroom lacked, the bedrooms made up for it.

There were only two but they were beautiful, both looked over the city and Draco could picture adding the beds already, and his bedroom was smaller than what he used to have but after repairs were done it would be very cosy and even had a window couch that they could read stories to Harry that would finally have his own bedroom they’d take him to when he fell asleep.

“It’s definitely not a starter house as you can see, Mr Hewitt,” the agent said when they went down the stairs “But I’m sure _I’ll_ \--”

“I’ll buy it,” Draco said, already having his heart set on the house.

“But the cost of the house, not to mention the repairs” the agent struggled for words, sure they had done a terrible job and taught the boy a lesson.

“I’m sure the cost of the house won’t be a problem” Draco smile was poison as he continued “I mean, you said it yourself, it’s in such a state, I can’t... imagine,” his sarcasm making the agent grit their teeth “Selling a house as awfully maintained, as you told me, for much”

The agent couldn’t even deny their own words and selling the house for more after they’d spent all that time tearing it apart would be worse for them.

“Very well, we’ll talk prices and then I’ll get the papers ready,” they said, having to smile even as they wanted to strangle the blond.

The next time Draco stepped into the house he had the satisfaction of knowing it was his, it was the house he’d build for his family, the house he’d see Harry grow up, that he’d share with Ginny, outside the tiny flat and into a place that belonged only to them.

His hand trembled when he reached into his pocket and took his wand.

Draco had to take a deep breath, it wasn’t easy for him to repeat those spells, the reason he’d learned them was so distant from his purpose now and it was almost hard to actually do them.

But he knew that inside they were still the same.

He was doing it for his family, it didn’t matter if he learned to repair with a cursed cabinet, _they_ were what mattered for him, what had always mattered.

It would need time to fix the whole house but watching the splinters slowly going back to their place, the floor getting firmer under his shoes and the windows clearing, he knew he could do it.

Because it was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure what you expected here XD But they just reaaally needed a new house ;)  
> What do you think of the house, good enough?
> 
> I kind of want to try animation but I'm such a perfectionist I just know I'd keep looking at it and never like it *sigh*


	34. Too Close

Her hands were in his hair and he was holding her tight, having to stop himself from going further than a kiss, he could feel her body pressed on his and he groaned, as it was, even having her on his lap was a risk and despite how much he wanted to continue and to do much more, it was just not possible.

Because they were never alone.

“Boo!”

Draco and Ginny separated rapidly, the blond sighed into her shoulder “He’s awake”

Ginny laughed and gave him one last kiss, getting up from his lap, and he already missed her warmth.

“Harry! Want to play with Mama?” Ginny asked the toddler, picking him up from the floor.

“Yeah! Can we go to the park?” Harry asked, his little feet moving contentedly as Ginny held him.

“Sure can,” she agreed, moving towards the bedroom to get his clothes “Draco, you coming with us?”

Draco hid his face in his hands before feebly saying “Give me a second”

Harry had no idea why his mother burst out laughing at that.

Taking deep breaths Draco knew, he needed to complete the house, things just couldn’t continue like that.

Ginny knew better than assuming that Draco was that flighty but she still wondered why he disappeared after work, he had arrived late the whole month and she knew it wasn’t work, she’d called once to ask if she could talk with him, she wanted to know what he’d like for dinner, but he had left at his regular schedule only to show up deep in the night.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, in fact, it was because she trusted him that she hadn’t asked anything yet, she just had to keep her jealousy at bay... and she wasn’t very good at that.

They were sitting on a bench, looking at Harry play, she bit her lip before turning to look at him “Draco?”

“Yeah?” he asked, looking in his eyes Ginny could feel no hesitation or lie, just that same silver as usual.

“You’ve been staying away lately...” she began, trying to find the correct words, she did trust him, dammit.

Draco raised an eyebrow in amusement, taking her in his arms he gently kissed her neck, distracting her completely from what she planned to say.

“My little Weasel is worried?” he asked in a whisper, his mouth near her ear.

Ginny blushed “It’s just that you haven’t said anything!”

Draco chuckled, he wanted the house to be a surprise but he didn’t want it to cause strife between him and Ginny so after kissing her head he said “I’m planning something, a gift really”

“Can I get a hint?” she asked teasingly, now that she was feeling better it left space for curiosity, what could her Slytherin be preparing that would take a whole month?

Draco pretended to ponder it but when he smirked Ginny already had her answer “No!”

“And here I thought I would make your favorite dessert,” she exaggerated a sigh “But I guess someone doesn’t want it that much”

Draco looked at her in admiration, he loved Ginny’s impish nature, and had it been something else he would have had no problem in just telling her what she wanted, but he wanted to see her face when she first discovered about their house, especially as then it would be complete and not have half the kitchen yet unfinished.

“You can’t bribe me, not about this,” he laughed and kissed her again.

“So I can about other things?” she separated from him just long enough to ask.

He smiled and was about to answer when he felt their toddler trying to tackle him, Ginny chuckled and pulled away so he could see what the beaming Harry wanted.

Draco himself chuckled and knelt to listen “Yes, Harry?”

The boy’s green eyes sparkled and he answered “Dada! Let’s play!”

“Sure” and he let the toddler lead him away.

“Don’t stay too long, we still need to get the groceries!” Ginny warned the two and shook her head with a smile when she heard Draco groaning.

Draco and Harry looked around the store while Ginny was in another aisle getting the vegetables, Draco tallied up what they had back home and what they needed for the next month while Harry tried to get more candies out of him.

“And this!” the child held the package up to the blond who raised an eyebrow.

“We can’t get all the sweets in the store,” he explained amused “And you’d get sick, so are you sure this is your last? You already picked two”

Harry frowned as he looked at the candy, deciding if he wanted that one or another more, when he made his decision he nodded to himself and turned again to Draco and handed the candy.

“Yeah, this” he answered, smiling again.

Draco nodded and put the candy in the basket.

Usually, Harry held his hand and they could continue walking without thinking too much about it, usually, the child would let Draco know if he wanted to go in another direction, usually, Draco didn’t need to hold his hand too strongly now that he was better at walking.

But that day Harry had decided to not do the usual.

Harry let go of his hand and bolted towards another aisle, Draco cursed, he didn’t know what the boy had seen that interested him but thankfully it wasn’t far enough to worry, so he just turned to go find the runaway child. He soon spotted the back of Harry’s head and was about to approach him.

“I can’t believe it! It’s Harry Potter...”

Draco froze and hid to look into the aisle.

Looking at Harry was a tiny man in a violet top hat, Draco could vaguely recall the man but was not able to remember his name and either way the trouble was that he had recognized Harry and that could turn into a big problem.

“I can’t believe it! It’s truly you! I knew Dumbledore did not disappoint!” the man exclaimed “Ha! Once everyone sees you! Oh my, everyone!”

Draco reached his wand, if the man tried to grab Harry then he’d attack regardless of the muggles around, he would not let the ministry have Harry.

“Everyone! I need to tell everyone!” the man exclaimed again, looking around wildly “But I can’t apparate here,”

Draco pointed his wand.

“Oh! I will come back!” but thankfully the man turned the other way “I will go and then the others will see Dumbledore was right! To think that I’d see Harry Potter...”

Once the man was far away enough Draco got out of his hiding spot and grabbed a confused Harry, letting the basket fall to the ground he rushed towards Ginny still holding his wand, right now it didn’t matter if the muggles saw it, they had to get away from there.

“Dada!” Harry protested being held so tightly but Draco didn’t hear, the thumping of his heart was deafening.

Seeing Ginny he just grabbed her, dragging her away from the aisles and towards the back of the store, he would have been gentler had it not been so urgent and Ginny was about to protest but when she looked at Draco she rapidly noticed that something was wrong. With furrowed brows, he looked around the store as if expecting that someone would jump out and attack them.

“What’s happening?” she asked when he used magic to open the back door, there weren’t people there but it was still such a risky move.

“Someone recognized Harry” he explained succinctly, checking that there were no muggles there “It’s likely that Aurors will be here soon”

Ginny’s eyes widened and speed up, worried she whispered “Draco, we can’t run faster than they can apparate”

Draco sighed, knowing she was right, he stopped for a moment and contemplated what to do before looking at Ginny “I’ve never tried doing this with someone else, it’s... incredibly risky”

Ginny grimaced but steeled her resolve, they had to get away fast “I trust you”

Draco hoped she was right.

He handed Harry to her and took her free hand, forcing himself to calm down, focusing his mind on the flat he felt the familiar tugging of apparition and hoped that meant he hadn’t messed up.

When he heard Harry cry Draco opened his eyes terrified but thankfully from a quick check it seemed the child was only crying because of the uncomfortable apparition and not from splinching. He finally relaxed when a quick look over told him that Ginny was alright too.

Ginny smiled and hugged him “You did it!”

“I had a very good motivation” he joked while trying to get back his breath “But I’d rather not have to do it anymore”

They shared a worried smile before going to calm the scared toddler. They had escaped this time but it was just too close and it was likely that the area would not be safe anymore, they would have to again keep Harry inside for the time being and they hadn’t even gotten their groceries in the confusion, and considering the mess they made they would need to go to a different store altogether.

Draco knew things couldn’t continue that way, and the house was now more important than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahaha, Harry is a tiny cockblocker XD  
> And first real dangerous encounter with the wizarding world ;)  
> Sorry this took long, I was working on this other story (is not exactly a third fanfic, more of an "If I don't hate it by the time I finish writing it, I might consider posting it") and it sucked up all the brain juice XD Hope it wasn't a disappointment :D
> 
> p.s: When I was circa 10 I changed school and couldn't understand why my classmates didn't like me, now I'm re-reading Philosopher's Stone and whenever Hermione appears in the beginning I remembered that and went "Oooh!"


	35. A House for Us

The kitchen cabinets were surprisingly complicated to repair, the hinges just didn’t want to obey him and kept flopping, Draco sighed wondering if he’d said the wrong words, that would be a problem as he no longer had access to the necessary books, but a trip to Diagon Alley wasn’t worth the risk. Cabinets could be bought new but being too close to the wizarding world while actively hiding their golden boy was asking to be sent to Azkaban.

The almost meeting with the wizard in the store had been too close of a call but at least in the muggle world they could just pretend to be muggles themselves, and that layer of protection was especially needed now. There hadn’t been as many Aurors as when they’d just escaped Godric’s Hollow but it was no longer improbable to see one while they went out to buy any necessity, Harry wasn’t enjoying being cooped up but Draco could remember his hatred of the muggles that had to raise him, and the thought now was disgusting to him, he couldn’t stand Harry being given to them again.

He examined the hinges again, maybe he could try mixing some of the spells, it wasn’t that he hadn’t tried back when he’d been fixing the cabinet but mixing spells could be so volatile and result in completely different spells. Maybe if he wrote down the spells he knew and see the ones most likely to go together? He nodded to himself, making a mental note to buy a notebook, Draco moved towards the next thing that needed fixing.

The floors had been, surprisingly, the easiest to repair, most of it only needed a simple _Reparo_ while some needed to take into account the age of the wood, but overall it had been the quickest part to do. The windows had taken some time as he didn’t have to deal only with wood and the one in the bathroom had pieces of the glass lost during the years. The stairs taking a little longer so they would have a certain charm and shine.

The most difficult part of the repair had been the fireplace, stone worked very differently than wood and he had to completely change his approach and the spells he’d use, and any detail he wanted would have to be very carefully spelled unless he wanted to ruin the piece, he had to buy a new table for the kitchen because of it.

The bathroom would need to be left for last as it would require someone else to fix it, he’d tried fixing a pipe and had ended soaked, he’d rather not repeat that.

Harry’s room was basically complete, there were no decorations yet, he’d figured the Trouble Duo would enjoy it more if they were the ones to paint the room. That left his and Ginny’s bedroom where once he finished the window and placed some decorations, it would be perfect. Draco smiled.

It was their family’s home, he wanted it to be perfect.

Several days later Draco rushed to the flat.

He opened the door quietly, it was already way past midnight, after almost two months he’d been finally adding the finishing touches to the house and had lost track of time. Draco had expected to find the living room silent but it seemed that Ginny was still awake.

“Hey, sorry, did I keep you waiting?” he asked gently.

Ginny smiled and shook her head “No, just had a rough day, couldn’t sleep” she got up from the couch and kissed him.

“More aurors?” he asked worried, holding her close and caressing her back soothingly.

“Harry cried today and was grumpy the whole day, but they were really close today” she sighed, melting into his embrace.

Draco gave her a little smile “Tomorrow, I think we should visit Mrs Rees”

Ginny looked at him confused “Are you sure? We’ll have to take the bus”

He shrugged, trying not to give any hints as to what he was planning “What better way to get them off our back than leaving?”

“Yeah, makes sense” she nodded, the tiredness finally hitting her.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep” Draco whispered, he kissed her forehead and picked her up.

Ginny chuckled, holding onto him “You really didn’t need to that”

“No, but I wanted to, now stop resisting Weasley,” he said.

“Hum” she pretended to think about it “No” she smiled before kissing him.

Harry tried to climb onto Draco’s lap before being picked up as he wanted. Happily enjoying his breakfast now that he was with one of his parents.

“Taking that many clothes won’t be rude?” Ginny asked, sipping her drink “I know we should stay away for a while but it feels like we’ve basically put all our stuff in the bag”

“I would say that the problem is that is because we just don’t have that many things” Draco laughed, helping Harry eat “The bulk of our stuff is Harry’s”

“Huh?” the child looked between them, the corner of his mouth dirty.

“We’re going out today, are you happy Harry?” Ginny asked, watching as the toddler beamed.

“Where?” he asked enthusiast.

“To see Mrs Rees” she answered, taking a napkin and cleaning his mouth.

Draco smiled but didn’t say anything, it wasn’t a lie, after all, they would see the older woman just not in the way Ginny thought.

“But only if you are a good boy and don’t get fussy in the travel” Draco eventually warned, there were too many people on the bus for them to make a scene then, and he worried that it could trigger Harry’s magic which was even more dangerous.

The boy nodded vigorously, just happy to finally be going out.

Finished eating, Ginny picked up Harry so she could dress him up, putting a bandana on his head to hide the scar just as extra protection, while Draco used his magic to shrink their bags, and all of their other stuff that he had indeed put in them, for ease of carrying.

“Ready?” he asked and Ginny nodded.

The three made their way to the bus, taking care not to be seen. Taking Ginny’s hand in his, he could only hope she liked the house.

“Are you sure you got the right street?” Ginny asked, not recognizing where they were going, she was fairly sure they had passed the way to Mrs Rees' house.

“Oh I’m certain” he answered and Ginny raised an eyebrow, he sounded like he was planning something.

He continued to lead them before stopping in front of a house that was definitely not Mrs Rees’, Ginny had to admit it was a really nice house from the outside, it had two floors and the darker stone contrasted nicely with the white frame of the windows, the red door opening to a well taken care-of garden that even had some recently planted flower beds. But aside from being nice, she couldn’t understand why they were there.

“Draco, what?” she asked and he smirked.

“Well, I thought that if we were to leave,” he began, taking the keys to the front gate “We should probably go to our house”

Ginny’s eyes widened as she realized what he was saying “So that thing you were doing, the surprise, you bought a house?!”

“Welcome home, Ginny” he whispered.

The three walked the gravel path, Ginny looking around with even more interest.

The house inside was even better, the first room was the living room, the walls were a little too white for now but she thought that could be easily remedied, there wasn’t a lot of furniture but they could fix that in the years to come. She moved towards the kitchen when she felt Harry wiggle around in her arms and put him on the floor so he could explore alone.

“Did you like it?” Draco asked, almost too quietly and when she turned around, Ginny saw how eager he was to see her happy, she had to hug him.

“This is incredible,” she told him trying to let him feel how he made her feel “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“It wasn’t ready” he explained, now reassured that she liked the house he was able to speak louder “I had to fix basically the entire house”

“Really? Had no idea you were that good at spells” Ginny said impressed with him.

Draco gave her a tenuous smile “I am... good at repairing things” his hand gently caressing the handrail of the stairs.

Ginny got closer and caressed his cheek “Isn’t it beautiful? Draco, you took the worst year of your life and turned it into something better, you are better”

He took her hand and gently kissed it “Thanks, love”

“Do you want to see the rooms now?” he asked then, leading her upstairs.

“And Harry?” she asked, hearing the toddler giggling as he looked at the fireplace.

“Don’t worry, the house is warded” he explained not thinking too much about it.

Ginny looked at him in confusion “And how do you know that one?”

“I stumbled into the spell once in the library in Malfoy Manor” Draco explained “Turns out manors are not very kid-friendly and my mum tended to worry”

She laughed, it was almost funny how in comparison the Burrow always had at least one kid with scratches, mostly her and the twins, occasionally Ron, usually because of Fred and George.

“There’s Harry's room” he showed her the room on the right, for the moment it only had Harry’s new bed but after they were done looking around they could finally put his toys and clothes in there too.

“And this is our room, I didn’t paint any of the rooms, I thought you would want to--”

“So we’ll be sleeping together?”

Draco fell, just completely lost balance, and ended up face-planting onto the floor, under Ginny's confused stare before she burst out laughing, it seemed Draco hadn’t been able to completely hide all of his reactions in the occlumency training.

He glared at her as he got up “I’ll let you know I was not thinking about that” he said, fixing his clothes in embarrassment.

With a last chuckle, she then kissed him “It’s okay, this is perfect Draco”

“We have a home”

And he held her closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Me:** Ah, good day to write.  
>  **Brain:** Draw Ginny and Draco as Hades and Persephone!  
>  **Me:** What? Why?  
>  **Brain:** You gotta! >:)
> 
> Hahaha, sorry for the delay ;)  
> Haaaaaaaa, the FIA Archive keeps giving me bandwidth limit exceeded and I'm saaaaad T^T


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